The wild Tamer
by Otaku-Sama
Summary: Takato´s a normal kid, nevermind his dad, Ranma... **new spellchecked version
1. It´s all in the genes

Greetings y´all!  
This is my first try at fanfiction, so if it comes out as absolute crap,  
please don´t tell me! I have a very fragile ego (sob!)  
Disclaimer: I ain´t claimin´ nothin´, man!  
Wild Dreamer  
  
Prologue  
  
  
"Gaah!! I´m late!"  
  
He was your regular japanese kid.  
  
"Takato!! Your breakfast!!"  
"Sorry mom, no time! See ya!" Zoomed the hyper boy through his parent´s bakery´s kitchen.  
  
You know, ten years old -almost eleven, actually-, Primary School student with average grades... the usual.  
  
"Whoa, skirt! You almost knock me over!"  
"Sorry dad! Bye!" Slam! went the bakery´s backdoor.  
"Heh, I wasn´t that active at that age, was I, honey?"  
"Suuuure you weren´t, you baka...." playfully answered Mie -Takato´s mom- to her husband.  
"...meanie..." answered him with a hidden half grin.  
  
Like most kids his age, he enjoys playing with your friends at the park, spend time with his dad in what they both enjoyed, and also draw. He was very good with a pencil, and had a vivid imagination. Then again, nothing unusual.  
  
"....imlateimlateimlateImLateImLate-Good Morning Mrs. Mizuno-ImLateImLateimlateimlaaaate...!!!"   
"..uh? I´d swear I heard a kid greeting me... oh, well..." mused old Mrs. Mizuno to herself, as papers blown by his draft fell back to the ground.  
  
For the last year or two -since the show was first aired- he has been a die-hard Digimon Fan, having seen both seasons AND the movies at least thrice, and become a devoted -altought not incredibly successful- Card player. Your run-of-the-mill kid.  
  
"imlateimlateimlateimla-" Screeech!! "-school! Still can make it! Just a little more!" Zooom!  
"...damn kid always blowing up dust when he arrives... at least he now uses the stairs..." grumbled the school´s janitor, as he proceeded to close the gates.  
  
He had average brown hair -a little messy, but not much-, was of average height -mmmh, maybe a little taller-, and wore quite regular grey sweat pants, blue hooded sweatshirt and white T-shirt. Again, a completely normal kid.  
  
"...Takahashi Akiyoshi..."  
"present"  
"...Maeda Kouji..."  
"present"  
"...Wada Ai..."  
"present"  
"...Hongo Rumiko..."  
"present"  
"...and..."  
  
thumthumthumThumThumThum-Slam!!  
  
"SorryI´mLateMissAsagiWon´tHappenAgainIPromiseJustDon´tGiveMeDetentionAgainPleasePlease?"  
"...ok..." said Miss Asagi, with a sigh and knowing it would happen again the next day. After all, Takato was late quite frequently. Very normal for any kid. After all, Takato was a very normal, average, run-of-the-mill boy.  
  
"but this is the last time, do you understand, Mr. Saotome Takato?"  
  
Then again, I could be wrong... 


	2. Something funny happened on the way home

Greetings everyone! Otaku-Sama here (well, just Ota-kun for the ladies... ^_~ )  
  
To everybody who read and reviewed the first chapter of "Wild Tamer" (the four of you), a big and fat  
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I´M SO HAPPY!! (sob!)  
  
As you may -or may not- have seen, I´m giving a try at a Digimon Tamers/Ranma 1/2 x-over (the very first there is, I think) and, being a kinda experimental fic, I really don´t know how´s it going to come along. I have no schedule, no plot line -yet-, no idea how´s it gonna end -if ever.... @_@- but I´ll try my best!  
And for my very first reviewers -and newest very best friends-, my sincere thanks, and look at the end of this chapter! Now, on with the show!  
Disclaimer: Digimon Tamers? Ranma 1/2? They´re mine! All miiineeee!!! Bwahahahaha-hack-koff-koff-  
Aaarrghhh!! Where´s my Lithium, dammit!!  
The Wild Tamer  
  
by Otaku-Sama  
Something funny happened on the way back home....  
Sigh "...detention again... the third time this week... "  
  
Saotome Takato, a good student...  
  
"and it´s not even Thursday yet! Mom´s gonna kill me..."  
  
...just not a perfect one. Go figure.  
  
"... and it wasn´t even my fault that the water faucet broke, or the fire alarm went off, or all the hamsters from first grade scaped anyway! Why do I have the worst luck?!?!"  
  
Well, he IS a Saotome, what did you expect?  
  
Now, he wasn´t as grumpy as he could have been. He had spend his detention time in a quite productive manner, sharpening his intellectual skills, doing homework... you know, primary school stuff.  
  
"Well, not everything was bad! I had time to finish my drawing! My very own Digimon!"  
  
...forget I said anything... oh, well...  
  
Taking his usual shortcut through the Park, he went to his and his friend´s Secret Hideout That No one Else Knows About, just to see if his pals were there. As expected, they were. As usual, playing the Digimon Card Game. As normal, one losing graciously, and the other winning... not graciously.  
  
"Hahaha! That´s three in a row, Kenta! Now who´s Da Man, eh? Who-Da-Man! Who-Da-Man!"  
"...you know, ´Kazu? You could improve at being a good winner..." said Kenta, while sweat dropping.  
  
Those were Takato´s buddies: Shiota Hirokazu and Katakawa Kenta -or as half school dubbed them, Abbott and Costello-. Our hero couldn't help but laugh nervously a little, while picturing his two friends doing the "Who´s on First" skit.  
  
"Hey dudes! What´s up?"  
"Hey, ´Kato! Long time no see! Did Miss Asagi let you out of detention early? After all the hell that fell at school, we expected you to be locked up a couple of years!"  
"Aw c´mon, ´Kazu!" moaned Takato -almost whined, in fact- "you know it wasn´t my fault!"  
"Yeah, man," said Kenta "you know nobody could have done all that stuff on purpose..."  
"Thanks, Kenta!"  
"...you need to be reaally dumb to do it!"  
"...THANKS, Kenta..."  
"Aanyway... you up to a Card Game? Wanna try your luck with the Digimon Thunder of Shinjuku Primary?" said Hirokazu, as thunder rattled in the distance.  
´That´s funny, there isn't a cloud in the sky...´ "Sorry, ´Kazu, gotta go straight home, just came for my cards. I´m already late for training with Dad, and helping Mom with the dough for the afternoon bread batch."  
"Gee, man... for a ten-year-old, you sure do a lotta work... no wonder you have so very few friends..."  
"Aw, don´t sweat it! I have you two to be my friends"  
´Poor, poor Takato... having US for only friends...´ thought Kenta.  
"OK, just gimme my Big Box-O´-Cards and I´ll be going."  
"Sure, man. Here it goeeee-yeow!!" were Kazu´s words, as he slipped and fell head-first from where he was sitting, while trying to get to Takato´s box.  
"Kazu!!!"  
"Ow, my head hurts...."  
"Luckily, you fell head-first, nothing important damaged!"  
"...very funny, Kenta..."  
"Oh, I hope my cards and my reader are okay!" said a very worried Takato, as he went over his spilled cards.  
"...I love you too, man..."  
  
Takato went over his cards in a hurry, he had to get to his home fast, after all. So, grabbed them all and put them in the box. ´I´ll see if they´re OK on my way home´ he tought, as put the lid on the box. So, he couldn´t see there was a Card he hadn´t had before. A Blue Card.  
  
"Sorry guys, gotta go! Bye!"  
"Bye, Takato!"  
"my head..."  
"Aw, suck it up!"  
  
Grinning a little, Takato took off through a back alley, to try and gain a few precious seconds. Halfway there, a group of teenaged bums awaited for a weak victim, just for the kicks.  
  
"Well, kid, aren´t we in a hurry? Gunna see yer momma ta make ya some warm milk?" Leered the leader of the gang. The big, burly, stinky and meanie leader.  
"Sorry, guys, I´m already late! Can´t stay and play!" was Takato´s nice answer -his mother told him to always be nice to people, so...-  
"Heh, but we wantcha ta stay ´n play with us! Ain´t that right, boys?"  
"Hell yeah!" "You got it, Boss!" "Just some fun, heh, heh!" replied the gangsters, while surrounding the young boy.  
"Oh, well, if you want to..." said Takato -in a very nice tone- and threw his box to the air above him-  
  
-and started to punch, kick, jump-kick, rabbit-punch, uppercut, left-hook, right-hook, stomp, flatten, and generally cause a lot of pain and injuries to the seven teenaged gangsters.  
Then, all of them -along with the box- had no choice but abide to the law. You know, the Gravity Law.  
  
Thump!! Went the bullies-wanna-be´s, just as Takato´s box fell on his awaiting hands.  
  
"Sorry fellahs, I really gotta go! Bye!" And away he went.  
  
On the ground, the leader lamented:  
  
"Fourth time this week... and it´s not even Thursday..."  
"...mommy..." cried one.  
Takato kept on running, but began to concern himself with his card.  
´Better check them, just in case...´ and, without stopping his race, opened the box and peered inside.  
"Ok, everything seems al-waitaminute, I don´t remember this card..."said, while handling a mysterious blue card. "...wonder what´s it about..."  
  
Taking a pause on his run, he decided to slash the Card through his reader. He didn´t expect it to start glowing and morphing...  
  
"Waaah! What´s happening!" cried he, and when the glowing subsided, he stared at his heavily changed piece of electronic merchandise.  
"It wasn´t my fault! I didn´t do anything! Really!"frantically justified himself, even if there was nobody around to blame him. After all, everybody blamed him for everything, and old habits die hard.  
  
Once he calmed a little -and realized he was making a fool of himself-, he took a look at his former reader.  
It was mostly white, with a crimson circle around a square LCD screen, and had some kind of navigation buttons under it. Also there was a crimson fabric strip with a hook, and was shaped somewhat like a cross between a Digivice,a D-3, and one of those new rocket planes the Americans where testing for the Space Station.  
  
"....oookay, that was odd... now, I´d normally try to figure what´s up if I wasn´t ALREADY LATE FOR TRAINING!!! Waah!!!"  
  
...And off he goes. Again.  
  
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Later that night...  
  
Takato dragged himself to his room. Not only did his dad -the infamous Saotome Ranma, martial artist extraordinaire and big trouble magnet- drilled him dry...  
"...96, 97, 98, 99, aand... 100 push-ups. Great job, squirt." said Ranma, with a satisfied nod. After all, not every kid can do one hundred push-ups in one minute.  
"Now, go leave those bags back in the storage room." "OK, dad..."  
  
Now, do one hundred push-ups while lifting two eighty-pounds flour bags... no ten year kid can do that!  
  
"...dad, I´m back. And mom says ´leave my flour alone, you baka´."  
"Hey!"  
"That´s what she said, I swear!"  
"...oookay... now, let´s try that kata we started on yesterday."  
"Ok!!"  
  
So they started with what some would describe as a dance of combat, with their limbs slicing through the air in perfect sinchronicity and accuracy, speeding up bit by bit, jumping and bouncing on the training hall´s walls, like two demented basketballs with feet and fists. If you watched carefully, you could see the difference between Sensei and Teichi (master and disciple) in Ranma´s greater control, power, and grace, and that he could jump up to the rafters, while his son could only jump seven or eight feet up.  
  
Even so, it was quite impressive for a kid -or a human being, for that matter...-  
  
After some twenty minutes of this, Ranma called to a stop.  
  
"Ok, son, that´s all for today. Now, let´s go help your mom with the bakery."  
"Sure, dad! And sorry again for coming home late, and for having detention again... "  
"Aw, it´s okay, just tell me if anything that Miss Asagi gave you detention for, was actually your fault."  
"No! it wasn´t my fault! I didn´t do anything!"  
"Oh, I know that. You just had bad luck, and were at the wrong place at the wrong time."  
"Yeah, that´s it! Gee, dad, how come you take that so easily?"  
"...son, where do you think you got your luck? Not from your mother, that´s sure..."  
"Alright, my strong and powerful men! Come and give me a hand with the dough, or I won´t give you anything for dinner! Got it?"  
"Yes, mom!" "Sure thing, honey!"  
  
Saotome Mie smiled at the loves of her life, as the three of them went to the bakery´s kitchen and got ready to kneed some dough...  
...and that was why he was dragging himself to his room. Of course, he still had something to do...  
  
"...okay, now... what IS this gizmo? It kinda looks like a niftier Digivice, but what does it do?"  
  
He kept tinkering with the buttons, but nothing happened.  
  
"Aw, this thing doesn´t do anything! It´s like it´s empty of data or something..."  
  
Absentmindedly, he gazed at it. It had been so... mysterious... how his card reader had changed, that he almost expected, half hoped, that somehow, it had become a real Digivice, and he had become a real Digidestined, and he would have a real Digimon partner... a friend... that would always be with him....  
  
With a sigh, he took his small sketchpad from his pocket, and stared at the drawing.  
  
His very own Digimon, custom designed by himself.  
  
Guilmon.  
  
"...I wish you were real..." said Takato with some melancholy, and very slowly...  
  
...almost delicately...  
  
...slashed his Guilmon drawing...  
  
...through his reader...  
  
...and then, it happened.  
"Aaah! It´s all lit up again!" said our friend, shielding his eyes. He could barely see as the rest of his sketchpad´s pages -where Guilmon´s statistics were- being pulled through the reader. And suddendly...  
  
The light sow was over.  
  
"What the- the screen... is that... a Digi-egg?"  
  
It was impossible, improbable, unthinkable...  
  
It was also true.  
  
Takato allowed himself a small smile.  
  
"Well, what do you know? Some dreams just might come true, after all..."  
  
With newfound joy and faith, he went to bed, Digivice still in hand.  
  
"I wonder what else I´ll be dreaming about tonight..."  
  
And so, he decided to find out.  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
Whew! A new chapter done! Hurray for me!  
  
Anyway. I promised my first reviewers a few words at the end, so here I go.  
  
For Ranko Ketchum (Heh, cute name..)  
  
Well, here is the next chapter. Can´t wait till the next one, huh? :P  
Anyway, glad you liked the first one, I just hope this ones measures up!  
For Josh:  
  
Don´t worry, I won´t make Takato into a DBZ-type of super powerful character... just enough top make it funny. :P And for Takato vs Renamon, well... heh, heh, I like it...  
For Dyslexia (?)  
  
This chapter should clear your questions. If you don´t know what "Ranma 1/2" is, I´d recommend you to get to your nearest Anime store and find out. You´ll get a blast!  
For Sora Potter (and ChaosRenamon) (BTW, both cute names, too ^_~ )  
  
Thanks for finding my first chapter to be funny. What do you think of this one?  
OK folks, see you later!  
Otaku-Sama. 


	3. Weird dreams are made of these

Saludos, Amigos! Otaku-Sama here again! ...OK, you can stop booing now...  
  
What do you know, I´m starting the third one! Didn´t think I would, didja?   
  
Anyway, here I am, typing away, even if I only got THREE reviews of Chapter 2, and only two of them from a new reviewer!! (BTW, thanks for commenting, Liiya Wolf and Canis Black, glad you liked it! ^_^ )  
As said before, this lowly and humble god of Otakuness has no defined schedule, plot line or idea of waddaheck´s going on, so you´ll just have to exercise your patience. Heh. And don´t forget my Dear Reviewers to take a peek at the bottom, ok? Now, on with the show!  
Disclaimer: What!?!? You didn´t know that "Digimon Tamers" belongs to Hongo Akiyoshi, and "Ranma 1/2" belongs to Takahashi Rumiko?!?!?! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF AN OTAKU!?!?!?!  
In other words: nope, not mine.  
Oh, by the way, the "Drug-Crazed Spearmen from the Cult of the Holy Shoe" belong to Jack Staik, Fanfic Writer Extraordinarie, and were hired without his permission. Sorry, Sempai!  
  
The Wild Tamer  
by Otaku-Sama  
  
Chapter 3: Weird dreams are made of these...  
  
It was midnight at the Saotome Dojo and Bakery, and not a sound was heard, not even a mouse....  
zzzzzzzz........ SSSNOOOOORREEEE!!!!!-Snort!-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....  
...apart from the usual, that is.  
This was the time when Morpheus came out of hiding, and wandered through the sleeping minds of the lowly mortals, spinning oniric visions that would have driven them mad had they been awake.  
Of course, he never visited the dreams of the Saotomes, not after entering Ranma´s, seeing what was there, and high tailing outtathere like a bat out of hell. He still went to therapy because of that little adventure...  
So, this means that Takato´s dreams weren´t his doing. Particularly this one...  
  
Our dear not-goggle head-yet was floating, in the middle of a mist that didn´t feel too... misty-like, his arms wide open.   
"okay, this is new... don´t remember ever dreaming to be a water -drop before..."  
He could see he was in a public place -the Park he frequented-, and was wearing only his Dragon Ball pajamas.  
"...at least it´s not the dream of myself naked in the school..."  
What, you haven´t had that dream yourself?  
Now, floating around can get pretty boring after a while, so he started to look around. Suddenly, things started to look more... animated...  
From the mist came two figures, walking with slender grace. One was a girl with reddish hair in a spiky topknot, wearing a trench coat and -of all things- sunglasses.  
"Uh, what´s with the secret-agent look..."  
The other silhouette, that stood taller -although with some weird limb proportions- was still somewhat obscured by the mist, until another dark figure appeared out of nowhere. Seeing this, the redhead finally spoke:  
"Go. Now."  
´Gee, really talkative, aren´t we...´were Takato´s thoughts. However, his mind quickly changed subjects.  
"Wow, a Renamon... and the other one´s a Lynxmon... now, THIS is gonna be one heckuva fight..."  
At the same time, both Digimon sprang into action. It was easy to see that Lynxmon had some advantage in strength, while Renamon was faster and more agile. Just like the fights his dad told him he had with his old buddy Ryoga -well, Ryoga said it was mere cheating on Ranma´s part, but we know him...-.  
With the professional interest of the martial arts student that he was, he observed the fight, until Lynxmon managed to pin down the yellow-and-white fox. The redhead took out a card -one of those from the card game, idly noted him- and readied herself to slash it trough a white-and-blue device, when...  
"Hey Renamon, if you bend your back a little, you can kick off your opponent!"  
Instantly, she did as told, bended her legs to her chest, and kicked hard, launching her foe up and behind her. With a quick flick, she righted herself and faced where her opponent went flying. Only THEN did she realize, it wasn´t her Tamer who gave her that advice.  
By then, the redhead had switched cards, and proceeded to slash.  
"Digimodify! Power Activate!"  
"Hey, that´s neat... I could use it on my sparring sessions with dad..."  
Feeling the surge of strength within herself, Renamon jumped high and readied herself for her attack. While sharp, shiny shards gathered in front of her, she caught on the corner of her eye, a floating, translucent, somewhat nervous pajama-clad boy, staring right at her.  
"Err... hello? umm, nice night, huh?"  
"..." Renamon couldn´t help but sweat drop for a second, but had other important things to do at the moment...  
"Diamond Storm!!!"  
In a split second, dozens upon dozens of light shards flew from her to the Lynxmon, covering it. Suddenly, it exploded into data bits.  
"Ouch, that hurts..."  
Deciding to ignore the seeming ghost up there -after all, there weren´t therapy groups for delusional Digimon that she knew about-, she went to the redhead. Wordlessly, she took off her shades, and acknowledged the Digimon´s victory with barely a nod. Only when Renamon wasn´t looking, did she permit herself a small prideful smile.  
Without her shades on, Takato had a clear view of her eyes.  
"Wow, those are some gorgeous violet eyes she has... she really is kinda cute..."  
The redhead wondered why she felt the urge to blush.  
"...even if she is something of a tomboy..."  
The redhead wondered why she felt the urge to bash somebody.  
  
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Takato woke up the next morning. For a change, it was actually early.  
"Gee, first that crazy dream, now I´m awake early... what´s next, Uncle Ryoga getting a Geography PhD?"   
Chuckling lightly at his small -and not really that funny- joke, he got up and readied himself for bath, breakfast and school.  
"Heh, maybe it wasn´t even a dream... in fact, I wonder if..."  
With some BIG curiosity, he took his new... Digivice?... and stared at it´s screen. The egg was still there. Fiddling a little with the buttons, he came up with... nothing new. Oh, well, there was always breakfast...  
As the family got together at the kitchen table, the curiosity got the better of him.  
"Hey, dad..." "Hmm? Yeah, squirt?"  
"Have you heard of any monsters fighting around town, lately?"  
"Huh? Of course not, son. That´s ridiculous."  
"Yeah?"  
"...the monsters never go farther than Nerima and Juuban."  
"...oh yeah. Forgot about that, heh."  
At that moment, Mie made her entrance.  
"Alright boys, breakfast is here!"  
"Yah, foood!!! Letseatletseatletseat!!"  
"-ahem- what do we say to the nice lady?"  
"...sorry, forgot... thanks, Honey!" said Ranma, after calming himself.  
"that´s better."said Mie with a grin.  
Takato chuckled.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
Later, Takato found himself walking calmly to school. Now that he wasn´t trying to break the Japanese Speed Record -the record for non-airborne objects, that is-, he had time to ponder a few things...  
"...first, that blue card that came out of the blue -heh-, then my Card Reader getting a plastic surgery, then my Guilmon drawings being actually PULLED by the freaking gizmo, then the egg, inside the gizmo, and finally that crazy dream... and it´s not even the weekend..."  
Indeed, that was a whole lot of paranormal, bizarre or just plain weird things for a week...  
"...heh, finally, a relatively normal week... at least the Drug-Crazed Spearmen from the Cult of the Holy Shoe didn´t bother me this time..."  
Waitaminute, just what kind of life does this kid have anyway!!  
Meanwhile, at the school...  
Katou Juri, a pretty -even if somewhat plain- girl, wearing a green dress, with shoulder-length hair with a ponytail on one side, walked to school with her friends. Yeah, she was a pretty normal girl -sock puppet notwithstanding...-.  
"...you really think the kids won´t laff at me?"  
"Of course not! Those glasses look actually good on you!"  
Indeed, glasses she wore. Very cute, small, rounded glasses on a gold-and-pink-highlights frame. Very feminine.  
"...well, I guess I have no choice but wear them, since my optometrist says so... funny I have the very same eye impairment her family has..."  
"Talk about coincidence"  
"That, and that all her brothers and sisters are doctors. Imagine, a whole family!" chuckled Juri a little at that.  
"Hey girls, whazzup!"   
"Oh, hello, Hirokazu, Kenta! how are you today?"  
"Fine, fine. Hey, new glasses, Juri? Look good on ya, tough I didn´t know you needed them."  
"Yes well, you know how things are... my optometrist found out just on Monday, and only yesterday´s afternoon she gave me the glasses... made them herself, just like her brother´s, she said."  
  
"Really? And who is your optometrist?" asked Kenta  
  
Juri´s answer was: "Oh, it´s Dr. Ono Hitomi..."  
  
And then was when Takato appeared.  
  
"Hello, buddies! Hello, Juri! How are you!"  
  
Juri turned to greet her friend, and her glasses... fogged over.  
  
"W-w-why, Ta-ta-takato-kun!! Fancy meeting you here!! Hahahahaha!!" Giggled and babbled Juri. The Two Stooges looked at her strangely, while Takato just smiled at her. Juri was such a nice girl!  
  
"Heh, funny, Juri! You know we go to the same school! Hey, are those new glasses? They suit you really good!"  
  
Juri giggled somewhat... insanely, and twirled on her feet, her heavy schoolbag still on her grasp...  
  
"Ouch! Hey, watch it! Yow, that hurts!! Stop!! Please!!!"  
  
...and kept whacking ´Kazu on his head with it.  
  
"Well, let´s get in before the bell rings. See ya!!" cheerfully said the Saotome Spawn.  
  
Only when he was out of sight, did Juri´s glasses clear up. Slightly confused with what was going on, she didn´t notice Kenta´s sweat drop as she went in the school.  
  
"...oookayyy... and to think that sock puppet of hers was bad enough..."  
  
Without much else, grabbed ´Kazu´s twitching carcass and dragged him inside.  
  
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Later that evening...  
  
Okay, Takato wasn´t completely wasted -at least, not as yesterday. With his waking up early, he didn´t get late to school, thus not earning detention. So, he came home early, just in time for his daily training with his dad. That saved him from make-up exercises, thus doing his 100 push-ups with only one 80-pounds flour bag on his back, and doing so in two minutes, instead of one. Also, his help at the bakery was limited, due to little flour left -by the way, they had to order some more for the next day-.  
  
Thus, he was awake, not really tired, and wondering what he could do. That was when he finally remembered his new Digi-whatchamacallit. Curious, he peeked at it´s screen, and found-  
  
The egg. It had hatched.  
  
"Ohboyohboyohboy! Now what!?!?"  
  
Again tinkering with the buttons, he navigated through several screens, until some sort of compass appeared. Speechlessly, he saw the red arrow circle around the compass, and suddenly stop, pointing in some direction.  
  
He couldn´t help himself! He had to find out what was going on! Without much thought, he opened his window and jumped outside. It wasn´t until he was falling that he recalled that he still hadn´t jumped from a second-story.  
  
"Waaah!!"  
  
He managed to calm down, and landed on his feet. It was a little rough, but bearable. He had to thank his dad´s training for that.  
  
Not wasting more time, he tore down the street, following his apparatus´ compass. On the distance, a bright column of light pierced the dark skies.  
  
"Well, it wasn´t green light, so it wasn´t a Shishi Hoko Dan... so it must be..."  
  
Increasing his speed, he vaulted over a wooden fence that surrounded a construction site. There, coming from the deep excavation, came the light column. In front of his astonished eyed, it became a thick fog, similar to the one he had dreamed about last night. Not wasting more time, he slid down the excavation´s slope and into the fog.  
  
"Man, can´t see a f..reaking thing..." he would have kept talking, but the dark red silhouette -of saurian shape- that he saw, was enough to shut him... for three seconds.  
  
"...oooh, boyyyy... now, THIS is new...."  
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Damn, my fingers hurt...  
  
But no suffering is too much! Anything for my faithful public! By the way, where are you hiding?  
  
Awaddahell, let´s go to review the Reviews....  
To Canis Black: Thanks for saying it was funny. And very soon, yes very soon... Rika ´ll get REALLY confused!  
  
To Ranko Ketchum: ...no, I´m not related to Washuu... -_-;  
...a sequel!? You want a sequel already!?!?!´  
....oh, you want the girls to chase Gogglehead, eh? Heh, good one!  
  
To Liiya Wolf: glad you like it! Thanks for the ego boost! And don´t worry, ´Kazu isn´t Kuno´s son. (phew!)...still don´t know if I´ll put the good ol´ Nerima Wrecking Crew into this... maybe I can poke some fun at them...  
To Josh: as I wrote to you in my mail, Takato ain´t gonna be another Goku... but another Ranma should do the trick!!  
  
To Sora Potter and ChaosRenamon: Thank you very much! Will you marry me? Uh, you Are a girl, aren´t you?  
  
  
OK folks, that´s all for now. See you later! Have fun! Send money! (just kiddin´ )  
Otaku-Sama 


	4. meet Joe Guilmon

...Goodbye, Lisa... yeah, love you, too...   
  
Wait, it´s you people again? Time for another episode already? Wow, time flies away...  
What? Who´s this Lisa, you ask? Oh, just my imaginary girlfriend- er, forget I said anything.  
  
Ahem! Aanywayyy! Are you ready to Rrrrrrrrrrrumbleee?!?!? Here we go!!  
Disclaimer: I don´t own Digimon Tamers nor Ranma 1/2 -but I DO own a knock-off Sakuyamon Action Figure I bought to a street vendor for about 4 US dollars. Ah! The advantages of living in a Third World Country!  
The Wild Tamer  
  
by Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029)  
  
Chapter 4: Meet Joe Guilmon  
  
"....oohh, boyyy.... now, THIS is new..."  
  
What was ´new´, you might ask? Apart from this Chapter, I mean...  
Well, the ´new´ whatever was... a Digimon. Yep, one of those fearsome, magnificent creatures born from modern mythology -or clever merchandising, you pick-. Yet somehow, it didn´t look as fearsom and magnificent as it sat and picked it´s nose.  
  
"...guess it´s no expert on etiquette..." sweat dropped Takato, while taking a better look at it.  
  
Mostly crimson in color, save for it´s white belly, black bands on it´s legs, arms, tail, back and neck, the triangles on it´s snout, and the stylish symbol on it´s chest. Also it had sharp-looking claws and talons, and were those red bat wings on it´s head? Weird...  
  
"Hey, waitaminute! You... you´re... Guilmon?!?!?!?"  
  
About time you caught on, Taks!  
  
At the moment, Takato was elated. Finally! A dream that DID come true! Now I can have a friend that will hang around me and understand me and be with me and-barbecue some rats with a fireball!?!?!?!  
  
In-deed! An order of rat-burgers, well done, coming out! That was when Guilmon finally took notice of the brown-haired kid, stood up, and pounced.  
  
"Gaah! Not again!" Takato shrieked like a little girl, and shielded his face with his arm. After all, his dad hadn´t gotten around to the ´deal-with-spooky-scaly-scary-monsters-with-your-bare-hands´ classes yet. It was scheduled for the next month -after the so-called ´Juuban Fiasco´, it was decided to add that little class to the normal schedule.  
  
Ahem, anyway... as I was saying...  
  
Takato wondered why the beating and screaming and kicking hadn´t started yet, so decided to open his eyes. Also, he wanted to know what that cold and moist sensation on his face was...  
  
And saw Guilmon sniffing his face, with a cold and moist snout.   
  
"Hey, stop, that! That tickles! Hahahahah-ugh, clean your nose, willya-no, not with my hoody!"  
  
Finally, Takato stood, and put a hand on Guilmon´s head. The Dino-Wonder nuzzled against it.  
  
"What do you say, boy-ugh sounds as if you were a dog...- I mean, buddy? wanna go homo with me? C´mon, follow me!" Said the Tak-Man, as he held Guilmon´s paw and dragged him behind, without any real resistance. Meanwhile, something bothered the kid, even if he didn´t know what it was... oh, well, he´d figure it out back home....  
  
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Well, he DID figure it out back home...  
  
"Man what I´m gonna tell my parents? They banned me from having pets -real, mechanical or mystical that aren´t supposed to exist- since that baby phoenix fiasco... damn, can´t believe I forgot about that..."  
  
This humble narrator can´t help but sweat drop.  
  
"Guess we´ll have to sneak up, huh, buddy?"  
  
Guilmon just looked at him and seemed to smile.  
  
Grabbing a nearby discarded box -it was big enough, having previously housed a 29-inches Sony TV-set-, he covered Guilmon with it and proceeded inside the house, and was about to take the stairs, when...  
  
"Hey squirt! Whatcha doing with that box?" Said the ´Modern God of Martial Arts And Good Looks´ä.  
  
"Waahh-! Kof-I mean-nothing, dad! Heh, heh! Nothing at all! Nope, there´s no Digimon inside this box! Hahahahahaha!!!"   
  
"...okay. Sleep well!"  
  
"...er, yeah, dad... g´night..." mumbled Takato, sweat dropping lightly, as he grabbed the box -Guilmon still inside-, lifted it, and raced upstairs, and into his room. With a sigh, he left Guilom down and out of the box.  
  
"Phew, that was close! Now, what I´m gonna do with you... hey, watch it, Guil! No, don´t! Those are my drawings and- hey, don´t eat my homework! My teacher ain´t gonna believe me! Down, Guil, down!"  
  
Restraining him a little, he thought: ´Jeez, he´s just like a baby! Guess I´ll have to teach him...´  
  
"Okay buddy,listen: you´re Guilmon. Can you say Guilmon? Repeat after me: Guiiiilll-mooonnn..."  
  
".....guiiillll...mooonnnn..?"  
  
"Yeah, man! That was great! Now, I´m Takato. Say it..."  
  
"...ta..kato..."  
  
"Yes, yes!"  
  
"...moooon...?"  
  
"...no, no... I´m not a ´mon... just Takato, ok?"  
  
"...just... Takato...mon... ok...?"  
  
Yes, Takato face faulted at that one. You can too if you want, honored readers.  
  
"Ouch, my nose... wait, I know..."  
  
Rummaging on his stuff, he searched for one of the gifts his Uncle Ryoga used to get him from his travels.  
  
"...let´s see... Batarang, a monkey´s paw, a ´girly-looking-rod-with-a -heart-shaped-astronomic symbol-on-top´ -wonder why did he give it to me... and where did he get it from...-, a Matrioshka doll, a bag of pocket lint, box of coins from all over the world, Chilean lapis-lazuli stone, miniature Moai statue... ah, here it is!"  
  
Takato pulled up a pair of goggles, just like those from the Digimon Adventure Anime. As he recalled, Uncle Ryoga has gotten them from this kid with really spiky hair that wore a leather jacket with a flame design. Sometimes Takato would wonder about this, but surely his Uncle couldn´t get lost in an anime, could he? Naah...  
  
Putting them on, he half turned to Guilmon, and with a confident grin asked:  
  
"Hey, Guil, how do I look? Pretty cool, huh?"  
  
"...heeheeheeheeh!!" giggled our Jurassic-Park extra "...Takatomon looks funny!!"  
  
Takatomon had to sigh on that one-no use getting mad at his new buddy, he was too damn adorable anyway...  
  
"..let´s just go to sleep..."  
  
"Oooookayyy!!"  
Later that night, the door was opened, and Ranma took a peek inside Takato´s room. As usual, he slept sprawled on his futon, snoring softly, his covers tangled. Guilmon was sleeping under some clothes, so he couldn´t be seen, but Ranma knew better.  
  
´Whatever this...pet...is, it doesn´t feel to have an aggressive Ki. I´ll let you keep your secret for a while, ´till I can talk Mie into not calling Animal Control-or the JSDF...´  
  
Being careful not to wake anybody, Ranma closed the door and went back his and his wife´s room.  
  
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"...Ruki, a Digimon has appeared."  
"...where?"  
"The Park. Are we going?"  
Yawn..."Of course we are, Renamon. Let´s go."  
  
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Takato woke to some soft growling. Rolling over, he saw Guilmon, intensely staring ot the window at some light column. It seemed to be at the park...  
  
"G-guilmon...? What´s....what´s wrong...."  
  
"Grrrr..... Digimon.... bad... there..."  
  
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"Digimodify! Power Activate"  
  
"Diamond Storm!!!!"  
  
With a final cry of pain, the Fuugamon formerly known as Goblimon burst into data bits, which were absorbed by Renamon.  
  
"Let´s go, Renamon."  
  
´What? No ´Good job, Renamon´? No ´Glad you´re OK, Renamon´? NooOOOooo, not from the Digimon Queen!!! One of these days, POW! Right on the kisser!´ "Of course, Ruki."politely said the yellow kitsune-ish Renamon.  
  
´Why do I have the feeling that someone is laughing at me...´ silently wondered Ruki. Let´s not tip her off, shall we, my dear readers?  
  
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"....okay. let´s sleep!!" merrily chirped Guilmon, and did just so.  
  
"..." went Takato, shook his head, and went back to his futon.  
  
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The next day, Takato went to the bakery portion of their home, and started to stuff his schoolbag, pockets and a couple of grocery bags with stale bread. Then, his mother appeared.  
  
"Good morning sweetie, what are you doing?"  
  
"Oh, just taking the bread for lunch, as usual, mom."  
  
"M-hm, you sure you carry enough?"  
  
"Yeah, mom, don´t worry! Bye!"  
  
"Bye sweetie, have fun!" ´Gee, my son´s early for school two days in a a row! My baby is growing up sooo fast!´  
  
What can I say, you know how mothers are?  
  
On the street, down his room´s window, Takato called up for Guilmon.  
  
"Hey, buddy! You can come down now, I´ll catch you! On the count of three! One-" THUMP!!  
  
"...Takatomooon...?...where..?"  
  
"...mmmph hrmph...."  
  
"...why Takatomon there? sleeping?"  
  
"Urgh, no, buddy, forget it... just follow me..."  
  
Merrily, Guilmon followed his partner to an off-the-way alley, where several cardboard boxes littered the ground. In mere instants, the boxes became a makeshift corral, where guilmon would have to stay.  
  
"Okay, lil´ buddy! You´ll have to wait for me here, but I´ll be back in a few hours! Now, here´s some bread, so you don´t get hungry. Here, you take one like this, chew on it" he chewed a little, and...  
"and the you swallow. Try to eat slow, so you don´t choke, OK?"  
  
"...oookayyy!!!!"  
  
"Don´t forget, stay here and wait for me! Bye, Guil!!" And off he went, leaving a happily munching Digimon behind.  
  
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Ah, PE class! Takato´s favorite subject in school, apart from art and home economics -a Saotome may not like to clean, but a Saotome apreciates how to cook, that´s for sure-.  
  
"Okay children, today the boys will be having long-jump test. Saotome goes first, and you know the drill."  
  
"Sure, Sensei. Hey, ´Kazu, Kenta! Gimme a hand, wiil ya?"  
  
"OK!" was their answer, as they climbed on Takato´s back. Then, he run and jumped.  
  
"...your dad has been grilling you again lately, hasn´t he?" Stated the PE Instructor, as he sweat dropped heavily. Ten foot! The kid jumped Ten friggin´ foot! With two boys on his back! If he wasn´t just ten years old, he would have drafted him for every single sports team they had! Oh, boy, can´t wait till the kid gets to High School!!  
  
"Whew! That was hard! You can get off, ´Kazu."  
  
"No way! Wanna try that ride again, it´s fun!!"  
  
"...you´re weird, Hirokazu..." said Kenta, as he dragged a complaining Visor-boy away from Takato.  
  
"Heh, those two won´t ever cha-what the!!!"  
  
What the? well, when a familiar, walking cardboard box with the Sony logo on it passed far away, on it´s way to the school entrance, he felt that ´What the!!!´was the right thing to do. He had to find Guilmon before someone else does!  
  
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Takato was feeling waaay down. With all the things that happened -the claw marks on a classroom door, the spooked-half-to-death principal, the ransacking of all the kitchen´s bread... it was just too much.  
  
"I told him to stay there, to not follow me... why didn´t he listen to me!?!"  
  
"It was your Digimon, wasn´t it?" an unfamiliar voice spoke, softly but firmly.  
  
"Wha-- ho-how do you know?" asked Takato, and stared at the source of that voice.  
  
Under a tree, a boy about his age stood. Dark bluish hair, grey eyes, tan skin. Dressed with a bright orange sleeveless vest that looked like a life preserver of some sort.  
  
"It´s hard to be a Digimon Tamer... and once you receive your D-Ark and your Digimon Partner, there´s no way back." Then, a small figure appeared from the tree, jumped down and took the boy´s hand.  
  
"You... you have a ...."  
  
"Terriermon´s the name! Don´t wear it!" Cheerfully said the green creature. "And you should be more responsible with your partner, you know? You aren´t starting with your right foot with being a Tamer..."  
  
"Terriermon!! Don´t be rude!"  
  
"Momentai, Jenrya! It´s just a joke!"  
  
Takato wasn´t listening anymore: Terriermon´s first statement felt... right... and... it hurt....  
  
´Remember, son: as Martial Artist, we have great power, but also great responsibility. We are responsible for the safety and well-being of those who depend on us...´  
  
As he recalled his father´s words, a single tear scaped his eyes, running down his face, only to find death on the dusty ground...  
  
´I... I should have been... more responsible... not let him... alone.... it´s... it´s my fault...´  
  
Crying silently, Takato took off, leaving two startled friends behind in a dust cloud.  
  
´Guilmon... where are you... I´m sorry, so sorry... please Guilmon, where are you..!!!´  
  
Hastily climbing the stairs, he reached the school´s roof. There, he could try and look for his wayward friend.  
  
"Where are you, buddy... where are-"   
  
There he was, sitting near the roof´s edge, awed watching the sunset as it set the horizon on fire.  
  
´So innocent... he depends on me... I´m responsible for him... I´m... I-I´m...´ "Guilmooonnn!!!!!!"  
  
Hearing his name, Guilmon turned. "Hi Takatomoooonn!!!" and run to his Tamer, tackling him to the ground.  
  
Takato hugged his friend fiercely, and couldn´t help but sob in both relief and self-disappointment.  
  
"I-I was so worried, Guil! I´m sorry I left you alone! I´m so sorry sorry sorry..."  
  
"Takatomon? You sad? Why...?" was Guilmon´s gentle question, as he delicately cleared Takato´s tears with his claws.  
  
"I-i was s-sad ´cause... ´cause I thought... you were l-l-leaving me..."  
  
"...Guilmon is friend... Guilmon not leave...stay with Takatomon..."  
  
"R-really? Even after I le-left you... alone..?"  
  
"Really! But Guilmon huuuungryyy! Takatomon and Guilmon go eat, yes?"  
  
Seeing the cheerfulness his partner exuded, Takato couldn´t help but feel happy again.  
  
"Haha! Sure thing, buddy! Let´s go!"  
  
So, hand in hand, and with light hearts, the two friends left the school.  
  
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"Takatomoon? Guilmon is hungry..."  
  
"Just a minute, Guil. First, we´ll find somewhere to hide you. You know, a house all for yourself" Said Takato with a smile, as he marveled as how fastly was his friend learning to speak more coherently, yet without losing his cheerfulness.  
  
"Yay! Guilmon´s own house! Yeah!"  
  
"Yeah, Guil, you very own-" Takato stopped himself: something felt wrong, as if some was about to...  
  
An attack! From the left! Even without seeing clearly who was their assailant, Takato moved himself to protect Guilmon.  
  
A lightning fast fist flew to them, but Takato was just as fast. He blocked the punch with his left forearm, realizing his foe was abnormally strong,and sensing his opponent´s surprise, took advantage of it to deliver a devastating straight punch to his foe´s torso.  
  
His foe flew a few feet backwards with a grunt, but managed to flip itself onto it´s feet, and assume a fighting stance. Only then, did Takato see who tried to ambush them.  
  
It was a Digimon: a yellow fox he knew was called Renamon. He had to gulp at that: fighting gangs and mad cultists was one thing, but fighting Digimon... boy, did he wish his dad had trained him on advanced techniques already, a ki-blast would have been really useful!!  
  
"What pathetic Digimon needs his Tamer to fight for him?" coldly said a voice from the shadows. "Move aside before Renamon walks all over you."  
  
Takato couldn´t believe it! It was the girl of his dream!-wait, that didn´t sound right... anyway, worry about it later. We have other things to do...  
  
"Why did you attack us!?!?! We haven´t done anything to deserve it!!!!"  
  
"Humph. Digimon are made for combat. That´s all the reason I need. Renamon, get ready."  
  
Takato was REEAALLY worried now. He didn´t know how long would he last against Renamon, and knew very well that he had no defense against her Special Techniques. Glancing aside, he saw Guilmon, his eyes feral -almost insane-, growling menacingly to the Yellow Fox.  
  
´No! I can´t let Guil fight now! He´s too young! He doesn´t know how to fight! Damn, no choice... I´ll have to do it...´  
  
Takato flexed his arms, tool an aggressive battle stance, glared firmly to his foes, and in a steady, serious voice, said...  
  
"You leave me no choice... I´ll have to use my Special Secret Technique with you..."  
  
Ruki rised one eyebrow at this. ´Gotta handle it to him... he has guts...´  
  
Renamon´s face was a stony mask, but her thoughts weren´t.   
  
´I´ve never seen such a warrior spirit in a human... he must have something really impressive up his sleeve...´ Thinking so, Renamon took a defensive stance.  
  
"Musabetsu Kakutou Saotome Ryuu Secret Technique!!!" Yelled the Gogglehead while thrusting a fist to the skies. Renamon and Ruki took a step back.  
  
Then Takato grabbed Guilmon, slung him over his shoulder, releasing a powerful shout:  
  
"Run Away!!!!!!"  
  
...and tore down the path, only a cloud of dust behind him.  
  
Both Ruki and Renamon felt it was the right moment to face fault, and did so.  
  
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"...that was... unexpected..." said Jenrya with a large sweat drop on his head.  
  
"...Momentai..."  
  
Both turned from where they were about to stop the fight, still not believing what they saw...  
  
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"Ok, Guil, whaddaya think? Like your new house?"  
  
"Nice! It´s big and has a roof and the park is pretty and Guilmon likes it!"  
  
"He, I´m glad... Now, I gotta go to my home tonight. Are you going to be alright?"  
  
"Sure, Takatomon! Don´t worry!"  
  
"Ok, and tomorrow morning I´ll bring you lots of bread to eat."  
  
"Yay! Bread bread bread bread and more bread!"  
  
"Good night Guilmon, sleep well"  
  
"G´night, Katomon!!"  
  
With a final smile, the two friends parted until the next day.  
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Phew! I´ve never written so much besides college! -yeah, I´m a college student that watches Digimon, you can laugh now...-  
  
Now, let´s review the reviews!  
To Canis Black: Don´t worry your head with pairings as of yet. I confess I´m something of a Rukato fan, but for a Ranma-style Fanfic you need at least a romantic triangle, altought more complex polygons are preferable... :P For the sock puppet... wasn´t it possessed by D-Reaper for a while?  
  
To Ran: Takato IS a Saotome, but Juri is NOT an Ono, she just had the bad luck to have an Ono optometrist. Blame Hitomi for the Fogged Glasses Curse, even if it´s not really her fault...  
Takato´s Gramps going for the Tendo Engagement? Heh, don´t think Ranma would allow that...  
Our Goggle headed Hero WILL have girl problems... bigger than you think! As for the other stuff.. not very likely.  
  
To Josh: first: get a mail account from someone else, Hotmail ain´t exactly state-of the-art...  
second: a whip!?!? I´m starting to wonder about your tastes, buddy...  
third:call me a Baka again, and I´ll introduce you to my attorneys: Colt, Smith & Wesson, Inc.  
fourth:...you realize you wrote the "I´ll flip for them" on a public forum, haven´t you... they WILL read it...  
fifth: finally you say you liked the chap! about time!  
  
To Liiya Wolf: nope, don´t need them... but I do have a funny scene in my head... as for Ruki and Takato´s First Contact, how was it, uh?  
  
To Sora Potter: uh, never mind... but you should wear a hard hat if you´re fond of teasing Foxymon...  
  
To Ranko Ketchum: You´ve got mail.  
  
To Everybody who Read and Don´t Review: MEANIEESS!!!! WHAAAAAA!!!!  
  
Finally it´s over! See you later!  
  
Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029) 


	5. When things got a little heavy

"...daaandcing in the raiiin.....i´m daaaancing in the-- hey, whatarye doing here?!?!? Can´t a guy get some privacy while taking a shower?!?!?! Huh?!?!?!?!?!  
  
Well, now that you´re here, we can get on with the fic already.....  
Disclaimer: Yeah, sure, they´re mine.... I´m also a Saiyajin...  
The Wild Tamer  
  
by Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029; AIM OtakuuSama)  
Chapter 5: When things got a little... heavy....  
As Takato descended from Guilmon´s new Condo, he didn´t walk two steps, when two familiar faces appeared before him.  
  
"Hey- I remember you! You´re that kid from school... Henry or something, was it? And Terriermon, too!"  
  
"Err, the name´s Jenrya..." said the blue headed boy, while sweat dropping.  
  
"Oops, sorry! I have trouble pronouncing Chinese names, you know? Took that from dad." said a grinning Tak-man.  
  
"Heh, Momentai, pal! Actually, Henry sounds good.... Jenrya sounds like a girl´s name..."  
  
"Terriermon!!!"  
  
"Aw, is Jen-chan embawased? Poooor babyyyy....!"  
  
"...three words to you, mister: Pwincess Pwetty Pants."  
  
"...shutting up!!"  
  
Takato´s sweat drop was fairly big at the moment...  
  
"Look, fellahs, I gotta go home now... how about we talk tomorrow at school, huh?"  
  
"...If you insist... let´s go, Terriermon."  
  
"OK! See ya, Gogglehead!"  
  
"Terriermooon!!"  
  
Takato watched amusedly as the two friends walked away. Suddenly:  
  
"Hey, Jenrya! You study Martial Arts, right? Tai Chi Chuan?"  
  
Jen had to stop at that, and turned back to Takato, staring amazed.  
  
"..Y-yeah! How did you..."  
  
"Your way of walking. It´s steady, and flows like water and wind. You also breath pretty correctly. How about we spar sometime? It´s been a while since I practiced with someone my age..." finished with a smile.  
  
Jenrya recalled the not -quite-a-fight between Renamon and this brown haired boy, and couldn´t help but sweat drop heavily at that one.  
  
"...Uuuuhh... I mean... sure, why not? I mean- ohmygosh, lookatthetime! Gottagobye!!!!!" said the half-chinese youth, grabbed Terriermon, and run way from the loony.  
  
"... guess he has his own homecoming schedule, too.... oh, well!" and trotted cheerfully back home.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Back at the Ranch...  
  
"Is that all, Juri?"   
  
"Yes, Saotome-san! Just some cream puffs!"  
  
"Alright... that would be 50 yen... and here you go."  
  
"Thanks, Saotome-san! Good bye!"  
  
Juri took her package, went to the door, took a step onto the sidewalk, and...  
  
"Hey, Juri-Chan!" said Takato. And that´s our cue...  
  
Juri felt a shiver running up and down her spine, her new glasses fogged over, her right hand -were her sock puppet was- started twitching...   
  
"He-he-he-he-llooooo! Takato-Kun! Wh-wh-what a surprise, tee-hee!!"   
  
"Heh, that´s funny, Juri-Chan! You know I live here...!" said a cheerful Takato.  
  
"B-b-but of course you live here!! Do you come often? O-of course you come often! They have the best cream p-puffs here! Isn´t it so, Wuff-Wuff?!?!?!" Said our lovable, psychotic girl, while feeding one of the sugary confections to her fabric-based lunacy.  
  
"You better go home now, it´s kinda late. See ya, Juri-Chan! Bye!" said he, and gave her his best smile.  
  
She just broke into hysteric giggles, ran into a light pole, turned left, and run home skipping, bag of bread on one hand, happily munching puppet on the other hand.  
  
"Hi, dad! Ready for our training session?"  
  
"...uuhh... yeah, sure, go ahead, squirt..." said Ranma, while staring after Juri´s mad jog, sweat dropping heavily.  
  
"I wonder if she´s related to... naaahhh...." dismissing the thought, he went after his son, ready for some good stress relief...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
The next day, Takato was pondering a few facts of exceptional importance for the new day...  
  
"Damn, all my good T-Shirts are on the wash... and I can´t go to school just with my hoody!"  
  
Rummaging through his drawer, he could only produce an old sleeveless T-shirt he didn´t use anymore, since he had outgrown it. With a sigh, he realized his lack of options...  
  
"...it beats not wearing anything else... now let´s see... ummmh... a little snug, but I still can move on it. This´ll have to do."  
  
Then, he went to grab a couple of bags of bread, his book bag, and left for the park. It was early enough to go visit Guilmon and still make it to school just in time. Heh, Miss Asagi would have a heart attack if she saw him arriving early for a third day on a row!!  
  
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"Hey, Guil! Look what I have for you! It´s the bread you liiIIIIIKES!!!! WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!?!?!"  
  
In the middle of the once tidy -if somewhat cramped- shed, Guilmon slept and snored, laying over a bunch of broken concrete and dirt. By the looks of it, all that dirt came from that tunnel on the back of the shed -tunnel that wasn´t there last night!!  
  
"...mmmuuuuhhh....? ´Kato-mooon...? Morning already...?"  
  
"...yeah, morning already... but Guil, what´s all this!!"  
  
"...The house was too small, but Guilmon make it big... Guilmon dig aaaallll niiight..."  
  
"...Yeah, can see that... I´ll just leave your bread here, and I´ll let you sleep again, okay?"  
  
"...oookayyyy, ´Kato-moonn... g´night... zzzzz"  
  
With a sigh and a chuckle, Takato left the bread, and turned around. As he was leaving...  
  
"...uh? I´d swear Guilmon said something on his sleep about... installing a hot tub...? .......naaaahhh..."  
  
....and off to school our hero went.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
At the school gates...  
  
"...I´m telling you, Kenta! If you don´t start getting smarter on our Card Games, you´re gunna lose all your cards!"  
  
"...aw shutup already, ´Kazu! Yeah, you´re a great card player, but you don´t have to keep repeating so!"  
  
"..hell yeah I´m a Grreat Player!! I´m just like the Digimon Queen!!"  
  
"...you mean you´re a girl, too?"  
  
"...HA, HA, KENTA."  
  
"Digimon Queen? Who´s that?" Asked Takato.  
  
"Hey Chumly! Early again?! That´s a new record!!"  
  
"... yeah, yeah, I know... anyway, what´s this about a Digimon Queen you were talking about?"  
  
"Oh, it´s this really famous card player" said Kenta "that lives here in Shinjuku. She won this year´s Metropolitan Tokyo Digimon Card Battle Championships. They say she´s really cool -as ice, you know- and always wins her battles."  
  
´Could it be... the redhead from my dream? Dammit I keep saying that...´ thought Takato.  
  
"Anyway, we haven´t seen you around the Park, Taks... afraid to lose against me, Shiota Hirokazu, the Digimon Thunder of Shinjuku Elementary School?"  
  
"...you know, ´Kazu? Dad always freaks out when you do that..." said Takato, as he wondered where did that rumble came from.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
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At last!! School was over!! Free at last!! Thank Kami-Sama Almighty!!  
  
Takato trotted towards Guilmon´s new apartment, ready to spend some quality time with his buddy. He had already talked with Jenrya at school, and they had agreed to meet at the park, so their Digi-pals could get acquainted. Only that, when he finally arrived to Guilmon´s....  
  
"Hey, buddy! Where are you!!"  
  
Nothing. He wasn´t there...  
  
"...hell no... please, please... let nothing bad happened..."  
  
Taking out his D-Ark, he brought forth the compass, and stared hard until the red arrow showed him the road. Not wasting any time, he jumped down the stairs, looking for his friend among the bushes... when...  
  
"Tag! You´re It!!!"  
  
"Waaahhh!!!!! Jeezuz, Guil! Don´t scare me like that!!" said Takato, while hanging from a tree limb eight foot high.  
  
"...hah, hah! Takato-mon´s funny...!"  
  
Takato let himself fall in front of Guilmon, pouting a little. He was about to scold his lil´ buddy for scaring half to death, when the Red Lizard started giggling innocently. Takato´s annoyance didn´t last.  
  
"..heh, okay, I´m funny... c´mon, Guil! Let´s go take a walk!"  
  
" Oo-kayy!!"  
  
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The two friends were walking calmly, enjoying the sights, toward their rendez-vous with the other Odd Couple. Amazing how most people chose to believe the ´guy in a Digimon suit´ explanation...  
  
´Most be from being so close to Tokyo TV Studios... seeing people in Gojira suits going to have lunch and all that...´   
  
Takato´s musings stopped abruptly when Guilmon sniffed something, and ran away.  
  
"Hey, Guil! Wait! Were ya goin!!"  
  
Together, they reached an underground parking lot, where a surprise awaited for him...  
  
"You two!?!?!?! What are you doing here!!!"  
  
"...just finishing what we started yesterday..." said the Digimon Queen, arms crossed, a collected look on her face. By her side, Renamon appeared from thin air.  
  
"C´mon, just forget it! There´s no real reason for this!!" Shouted the Gogglehead, while restraining a growling Guilmon.  
  
"... no reason?! NOREASON!?!?!? YOU LEFT ME FOR A FOOL YESTERDAY!!!! THAT´S REASON ENOUGH FOR ME TO KICK YOUR SORRY BUTT TO OKINAWA!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
.....Yep, Ruki-Chan was ranting heavily. It was actually funny seeing her, with a bulging vein on her forehead, and doing a decent impression of the "Tendo Demon-Head Attack". By her side, Renamon sweat dropped, and scooted a little away from her Tamer.  
  
´dammit, she´s serious... and the Saotome Secret Technique can´t be used twice with the same opponent...´ glancing to his side, he saw that Guilmon was still growling, but for some reason... he did´t feel as if Guilmon was out of control...  
  
´...we are a team... we ARE a team... we will get out of this...´  
  
"...together... we´ll do this together, Guil..."  
  
"What are you mumbling now? Are you gonna run away like yesterday?" said a smirking redhead, expecting to scare the puny boy across her. But things didn´t go her way...  
  
"No. This time... we have no choice. We´ll fight. BOTH." And he took off his sweatshirt, to gain more freedom of motion... leaving him clad in pants and a very snug sleeveless T-Shirt.  
  
The girls HAD to stare. After all, it´s not every day they saw a boy of almost eleven years old, that had Takato´s build...  
  
He was lean, not bulky nor deformed in any way... but his bare arms showed every muscle with great definition, and his T-shirt, didn´t exactly hide his washboard tummy, nor his sculpted chest, broad shoulders... Ruki wondered if there was some heater somewhere in the parking lot.... it sure felt hot all of a sudden...  
  
Renamon was surprised, but had enough sense to note Takato´s stance; it seemed designed for maximum speed and defensibility, while not giving away which move would he take at any moment... she also noted how both partners took position besides each other, covering their backs.  
  
Ruki shook herself. What was she thinking, anyway...? Better get started....  
  
"Renamon.... attack".  
  
The Kitsune launched herself forward on a flying kick aimed to Guilmon´s head, but he dodged. Before she could react, Takato had grabbed her outstretched leg with one arm, while grabbing the small of her back with the other; he tossed her away, adding to her own momentum, making her stumble for a bit. After she regained her footing, she ran towards Takato, raising a fist. He readied himself for the counter, when Renamon vanished from sight, leaving a confused Takato with his mouth wide open.  
  
Suddenly, she reappeared behind Guilmon. Jumping up, shards of light appeared before her. With a mighty cry of "Diamond Storm!!", she willed the razor-sharp projectiles towards the mini-Dino... only to see them bounce harmlessly from his thick hide. The shards exploded, obscuring her view with smoke, until...  
  
"Hyaaaa!!!!" yelled the Boy Tamer, jumping up to Renamon´s encounter, arm cocked back, a look of determination on his face... and a small smirk on his lips. Now, THIS was a challenge!!  
  
Both warriors traded punches at unbelievable speeds, seemingly floating for a couple of seconds.  
  
Ruki was mesmerized by this scene.  
  
"This... can´t be... that stupid Gogglehead... can´t be... that good..." She half expected him to be a total pushover, after the "Secret Technique" Fiasco, but this proved her wrong...  
  
She shook herself. ´No time for gawking´ she thought, as she readied her blue D-Ark and a card....  
  
"Card Slash! Hyper Speed Activate!!"  
  
Renamon felt her awareness jump up, and finally she could see through Takato´s blindingly fast punches and kicks. Seeing an opening, she took her chance.  
  
"Oooff!!" was Takato´s comment, as Renamon´s paw struck him on the chest. She savored her small achievement, until...  
  
"Pyro Sphere!!!!" ...until Guilmon´s own Special Attack struck her from below, sending her hurtling over a parked Mitsubishi. She was ready to jump back into the fray, when...  
  
"Stop this!!" ...When Jenrya and Terriermon, from the top of the entrance ramp.  
  
"This is none of your business!!" Yelled Ruki. "This is between the Gogglehead and me! You better not stick your nose into other people´s business, or your stuffed toy of a Digimon will me Renamon´s next meal!!"  
  
"I can´t-stop now, Jenrya-" said a panting Takato, so getting the stares of the other two humans present. "I don´t- wanna fight.... Guil´s too young... don-don´t know how much longer... can hold out...but for my friend... I fight to the end..." he said, obviously in pain from Renamon´s strike, but still ready to fight.  
  
"..this is crazy..." muttered Ruki. "...Renamon... finish this..." she said, while wondering if she was doing the right thing.  
  
Renamon jumped again, and gathered the biggest Diamond Storm ever. She was already launching it in Guilmon´s direction, when...  
  
"No!! Get out of the way!!" yelled the Yellow Fox, but it was too late. Terriermon was a deer in front of the headlights of hundreds of energy crystals, ready to shred him into bits...  
  
"God, no!! Terriermoooon!!!!!!!!" was Jenrya´s anguished cry.... and then...   
  
...his D-Ark shone with a blinding light.  
  
On a split second, where the lovable Terriermon once stood, now was a much bigger figure, with twin revolving guns on his forearms. Giving in to old combat urges, the just digivolved Gargomon, started to shoot like a Texan on July the 4th.  
  
Everybody took cover wherever they could, leaving the parked cars to suffer the punishment of hundreds of rounds fired on them. In the middle of the war-like chaos, Takato peeked over the hood of a totaled Toyota, to see...  
  
Gargomon, aiming directly at Ruki´s head. The redhead was cornered onto a pillar, and by her terrified look, she was too shocked to react properly.  
  
"No! Guilmon, let´s go!!"  
  
As one, Digimon and Tamer rushed towards Gargomon. Takato, being slightly faster, jumped forward face-first. When he was about to reach his target, he spun on an upward kick...  
  
Gargomon´s revolving barrel turned to a loaded chamber...  
  
Takato´s foot made contact with the heavy weapon, turning it´s aim upwards...  
  
The barrel locked on it´s firing position...  
  
Takato´s leg kept going up, he being unable to stop himself...  
  
Gargomon´s gun shot a single round...  
  
...through Takato´s leg...  
  
"Aaarrghhh!!!!!" was his pained scream, as he fell heavily on his back, and rolled a couple of feet. By then, Guilmon had tackled Gargomon away and through a concrete wall, leaving him dizzy and harmless. Renamon only had time to witness all of this, not being close enough to Ruki to help her.  
  
The redhead was struck speechless. Half a second ago, she had seen her life going in front of her... then the idiot boy had saved her... gaining a bad wound in his leg...  
  
Jenrya had watched in silent horror all of this... This was the reason he didn´t want Terriermon to Digivolve! he didn´t want ANYBODY to be hurt, just like Takato had! He came out of his stupor when he heard his new friend´s voice...  
  
"Owdamnintdamnitdamnint!! It freakin´ HURTS!!!" he was still on his back, while clutching his wounded leg, blood poring from the wound.  
  
"Hey!! Somebody would PLEASE gimme something for my wound?! I´m bleeding here!!"  
  
Ruki had to react on that one. She owed her life to that boy -as much as it irked her to owe anything to anyone-, and knew she had a responsibility to fulfill. Grabbing her yellow scarf, she went to Takato´s side, and wordlessly dressed the wound. Looking closely, she realized Gargomon´s shot went through the calf´s muscle, and hadn´t damaged the bone. Also, the wound was very thin, and the entry and exit wounds were clean-cut , as if made with a sharp nail. Releasing a small relieved sigh, she finished dressing his wound, just as Jenrya, Guilmon, and a guilty-looking Gargomon approached them.  
  
"Hey..." she heard the Gogglehead call her. Turning her eyes on him, he saw his face. There was an small grimace -obviously he was still in pain- but also he was... smiling...  
  
"...thank you... you know... for patching me up..."  
  
She stared at his earnest expression, then quickly turned away.  
  
"...just repaying my debt... now we´re even." She knew they weren´t really even, but she wouldn´t admit that.  
  
"...let´s go, Renamon. We´re finished here."  
  
Renamon glanced where Jenrya was helping up Takato.  
  
´You´ll never know, how grateful of you I am, young warrior...´thought her, and disappeared.  
  
"Godimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry!!!!!" kept babbling Jenrya. Dammitall to hell! How could he had left that happen!!  
  
"Aw, don´t sweat it, Jen!" said Takato, a big smile on his lips, as he propped himself against Jenrya´s shoulder. "Don´t think it´s the first time I get holed up! As my dad says: ´The life of a Martial Artist is fraught with peril´. And anyway, in two days I´ll be as good as new!"  
  
Jenrya stared at the boy propped on his side. "Either you´re very brave, or very stupid..." he said, shaking his head, a small grin tugging his lip´s corners. Weird kid...  
  
"As I said: don´t you worry. The same for you, Gargomon!" He said. The shame-faced Gunslinger Bunny had to admire the boy. He had a great heart.  
  
"Darn I´m spent! Let´s call it a day, OK? Let´s go, Guilmon!"  
  
"Okee-dokee! Bye, Gargomon! Bye, Jenrya-mon!!" Apparently, the red saurian shared his Tamer´s easygoing attitude, mused the Chinese boy.  
  
"Okay... good evening..."  
  
And thus was the day finished. Only one thing worried our fearless hero:  
  
"Mom´s gonna kill me for ruining my pants...."  
  
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Ahhhhhhh!! There´s blood all over my keyboard!! It´s horrible!! It´s gruesome!!  
  
It´s-  
  
....it´s catsup....  
  
...Let´s just review the reviews, okay?  
  
to Canis Black: Hilarious you say? heh, thanks, buddy! glad you liked it!  
Don´t you worry about Martial Arts stuff... from now on, we´ll have more action.  
  
to Serpent Treize: well, the problem with working with some anime is not everybody is familiar with them, and in this case, it´s really useful to have prior knowledge of Ranma 1/2. My advice? go by the videos, download the scanned mangas... you won´t regret it.  
  
to Ran: yeah, poor Gogglehead... as for your weird mental images.... you´re evil. Mmmhh... mind if I make an Omake with your idea?  
  
to Jamie: a Takatomon/Renamon/Rukimon triangle? heh. I like it.  
  
to Josh: nice meeting you. We´ll miss you. @_@  
  
to Regless: thank you very mucho, Sempai! Such good review from one of my favorite authors... it really boosts my ego! And about my mispelling some words: what can I say? I don´t have an English spellchecker on my Spanish Windows 98... Saludos desde SudAmerica!!  
PS: I loved "Perfect Hazard", and I´m loving "Viral State". Keep writing, Sempai!!  
That´s all for today, boys and girls, Otaku-Sama here, signing off.  
  
Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029; AIM OtakuuSama) 


	6. Dad Knows Best or was it Beast?

...and that, class, is how you disassemble, clean, and reassemble an Automatic Kalashnikov Rifle, Model 1974, Standard- what you say? Some people staring at me? Oh, those are my readers. Class dismissed.  
  
Well, hello, again, mis amigos! What? Who are those? Oh, just my students from the NRA-Local 1313-. Never mind them.  
  
Uh? You want another episode already? Jeez, never knew being halfway-famous would be so demanding... Oh well, if the Pretty Señoritas ask me to write, then write I will!! ^_~  
Disclaimer: It is our belief that both "Digimon Tamers" and "Ranma 1/2" belong to someone else who aren´t us. Bummer.  
The Wild Tamer  
  
by Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029; AIM OtakuuSama)  
  
Chapter 6: Dad Knows Best. (or was it Beast?)  
The Terrible Two were walking towards Guilmon´s hut; Guil was skipping along, Takato was limping. Hey, you would too if you were shot on the leg by a sugar-high gunslinger Digimon...  
  
"Takato-mon? You sure okay?"  
  
"Don´t worry, Guil; it looks worse that it really is... hey, Guil..."  
  
"...mmh? Yes, ´Kato-mon?"  
  
Takato had been thinking. Guilmon was a Digimon -a fairly strong one, as he had devised him to be-... but that fact didn´t make up for something very important:  
  
Guilmon was a newborn. And as for every newborn, he had not the skills needed to survive. Sure, he naturally could throw fireballs, and he was sure he could use the "Rock Breaker" attack he had put on his friend´s statistics... but there is much more to combat than that! He knew -both by watching strong but not overly skilled fighters like Auntie Akane, and by his dad´s teachings- that strength alone can only get you so far: you must know how to use that strength... and Guilmon didn´t know...  
  
"...you were great at the fight, Guil: you´re very strong-"  
  
"Thank-ee-ya!!"  
  
"-but, you remember how we fought? Even when both Renamon and you are stronger than me, I fought more and better-"  
  
" Yeah, Takato-mon´s Stroooong!!!"  
  
"-no, Guil: I´m skilled. I KNOW how to fight, and thanks to that I managed to keep up with Renamon... the thing is... Guil, do you want to learn to fight like me?"  
  
Guilmon blinked. "´Kato-mon means all that jumpin´ and kickin´and all?!?!?! Yay!! Guilmon wanna learn!! Wanna learn!! Wanna learn!!"  
  
´Wow, that was easier than I thought...´ "Really, Guil? You really wanna learn? Because it´s gonna be hard... you won´t get it too easy..."  
  
"If ´Kato-mon did learn, then Guilmon can learn, too!!"  
  
"...okay..."  
  
And so, they arrived to Guilmon´s Hut. Once their good byes were said, Takato limped down the stairs, turned left to go back home, and-  
  
-run into somebody, falling on his butt.  
  
"Ow! S-sorry, didn´t see you..."  
  
"Bet you were thinking of Digimon again, eh, squirt?"  
  
"D-dad?!?"  
  
Indeed! Standing tall and proud, Ranma smirked mischievously to his son.  
  
"Well, that´s what your mom says... hey, you okay?"  
  
"Uh? Oh! You mean my leg? Don´t worry, just some blood, nothing to worry about!! Heh, heh!!"  
  
Ranma crouched besides Takato, and gently appraised the bandage -Ruki´s yellow scarf.  
  
"M-hm... nice patching up... for a beginner... let me check you Ki-flows...."  
  
His hands hovered a little above the boy´s legs, and started to glow faintly on a whitish hue. After a few seconds of that, he tapped a few spots on his calf and knee.  
  
"...there. You´ll be alright tomorrow evening. Mh, wonder how you get injured like this... did it have anything to do with... oh, I don´t know... a pet?"  
  
Takato froze. His dad suspected something!! And he couldn´t really lie to him!!  
  
Gazing at Ranma´s azure eyes, he saw...  
  
His dad´s worries... his need to know... his love for his son...  
  
´...I... i can´t lie to him.....´ ...with a mental sigh, he readied himself. THIS was a battle he wasn´t prepared for.  
  
"...you´re right, dad... you´re... right... I have a new friend... and he isn´t human... heh, it was almost magical how he came to me... you could say he is something... mystical..."  
  
Ranma has stiffened. Badly:  
  
"God, no.... please, Takato.... don´t tell me it´s the Bakeneko!!!!!!"  
  
Takato sweat dropped at that one. Even after years of therapy for his dad´s ailurophobia, he still disliked felines in general... and the extremely annoying Ghost Cat from his Neriman days was Top One on his ´Get that thing the HECK away from me!!" list.  
  
"Noooo nonono! He´s not a cat -or a ghost, really!! ....guess I´ll just have to show you.... Hey, Guilmon! Come here, buddy!"  
  
"´Kato-mon? you not at home yet?" said Guilmon from upstairs, while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"Heh, sorry for waking you up, Guil, but... Dad: this is Guilmon, my Digimon partner. Guilmon, this is my dad, Saotome Ranma."  
  
Ranma glanced at the mini-dino, stared for a second... then shrugged, extended a hand and shook Guilmon´s paw.  
  
"Hey there, nice to meetcha!"  
  
"You... Ranma...."  
  
"...yeah, that´s me!"  
  
"...moooon?"  
  
The Saotome´s kissed the ground: Takato laughing, and Ranma face faulting.  
  
Guilmon was just puzzled.  
  
"...Ranma-mon´s face not hurts?"  
  
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Both Father, Son (and nobody else, don´t get weird ideas) came to the same conclusion:  
  
Mie was a great woman, Mie has accepted every oddity from Ranma´s past, Mie had a strong soul and firm grip of reality...  
  
Mie also had the JSDF and the Police´s Special Assault Team on speed-dial.  
  
So, to avoid having a few platoons of guys on combat fatigues, toting assault rifles, at the door of their home, they´d better keep Guilmon as a ´we have no knowledge of such a thing´ secret. After all, the SAT had already surrounded their house twice, and it was getting embarrassing...  
  
It was also decided that they would move their training to the Park, so they could start with Guilmon´s own training. -Ranma saw this as a personal challenge: ´If anyone can teach martial arts to a dinosaur, that´s Saotome Ranma!!´-  
  
Takato´s perforated and bloodied pants were blamed to a freak training accident involving a compressed-air stapler, three members of the Japanese Red Army, and a flaming wombat. It was a stupid enough story, so it had to be true... so they both earned an ear-pulling, a scolding, and a resigned sigh.  
  
And so ended the day, with our heroes going to bed at their suburban house, surrounded by their normal neighbors, who always had something to laugh about...  
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The next day, at school, Takato had told Jenrya of his encounter with his dad, and how he had to tell him about Guilmon. Jenrya stated his concern about his friend´s course of action...  
  
"...WHAAAATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Jeez, Jen!" said Takato, while trying to get rid of the ringing in his ear. "Don´t worry about it! Dad is very understanding of this stuff: he had his share of weirdness when he was young..."  
  
"W-what possibly could be weird enough!!!!!!!"  
  
"...believe me, Jen... you don´t want to know..."  
  
"But-"  
  
"...you REALLY don´t want to know..."  
  
With a sigh, Jenrya relented: "...okay, nothing I can do, anyway... guess you told him about Terriermon, too..."  
  
"Of course not! That´s up to you,and you alone!"  
  
"...sorry, didn´t mean to..."  
  
"So, you two are coming with me to the Park, so you can introduce yourself to him."  
  
"...sometimes I hate you..."  
  
"C´mon, Jen, you don´t mean that!" said a grinning Takato. "And anyway, since my dad´s gonna train both me and Guilmon, then you and me can spar when dad´s busy! Whaddyasay?"  
  
Jenrya thought about it. He had seen a glimpse of Takato´s and Renamon´s fight, and he was curious about this obscure art.  
  
Remember what did the curiosity to the cat?  
  
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The Three Amigos -Takato, Jenrya and Terriermon- arrived to the park, and went to a small, secluded clearing near Guilmon´s hut. There, they met Ranma, who was teaching Guilmon how to do a punching combo.  
  
"...and repeat that move... alright, Guilmon! You got that in no time! Now, keep practicing that combo for a while... Hey, squirt! I see you brought two more friends!"  
  
"Yeah, these are Lee Jenrya and Terriermon."  
  
"It is a honor to meet you, Saotome-San" said Jenrya, while bowing formally.  
  
"Aw, no need for that formality stuff, Jen! Just call me Ranma!"  
  
"Hey, that´s cool, Ran-Man!" "Terriermon!!" "Momentai!"  
  
Ranma chuckled. "Hey, Jen, you do Martial Arts, don´t you? Tai-Chi-Chuan, Element Water? ...mmm, about a brown belt on the Japanese ranking system, I guess..."  
  
Jenrya stared. Darn, he was good!  
  
"...y-yes, Ranma-san..."  
  
"Cool! How about you spar with Takato, huh? Our style is mostly Wind and Fire, so it would be nice if you two compare the differences. Meanwhile, I´ll keep with Guilmon´s training. He´s very promising!"  
  
"Of course, Ranma-san, I´d be honored to."  
  
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Guilmon´s training went smoothly and nicely. As for Jenrya´s fate....  
  
"Ouch!"  
"I´m sorry, Jen!!"  
  
"No problem, I´m okay... let´s try that again... Yeow!"  
"Oh, I´m sorry, Jen!!"  
  
"N-nah, nothing´s broken... again.... Whaaa!!!" Thump!  
"Man, I´m sorry, Jen!!"  
  
"D-d-don´t wo-ouch-rry... Takato.... uff... again... aahhhh!!!"  
"Oh jeez, I´m sorry, Jen!! He-hey, Jenrya? You OK? Jen?"  
  
...wasn´t as smooth or nice... oh, well...  
  
"...Um, squirt?"  
"...yeah, dad?"  
"...remember when I told you that I learned the hard way that, deliberately going easy on an opponent, and underestimating his abilities, was a real big insult to his or her skills and honor as a martial artist?"  
"...yeah?"  
"...I think Jenrya here wouldn´t mind being insulted a bit..."  
"...uh-huh..."  
  
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"Jeezzuz, Jen, I don´t know what to say... you aren´t mad at me, aren´t you?"  
  
"N-nah, Takato, don´t worry... it´s to be expected that a better opponent would beat me..."  
  
Jenrya wasn´t really mad at Takato. There was nothing wrong with the Gogglehead kicking butt...  
  
...that he kicked butt while being so damn NICE about it, now THAT was irritating... but he couldn´t put that against his new best friend, could, he?  
  
The five of them -two Digimon, two boys, and one God´s Gift to Women- where walking out of the Park, when suddenly, a weird fog covered them.  
  
"What the- what´s this fog!?!?" Takato was confused: it reminded him of the fog from his dream!  
  
"It´s a Digital Battle Field..." said a distressed Jenrya. Both Guilmon and Terriermon were scanning the fog...  
  
"Something´s coming" muttered Ranma, his eyes closed, his body stiff... "...something powerful, animalistic...murderous... there!!"  
  
With a powerful shout, entered the Gorillamon. It started to beat it´s chest, then took aim with his arm gun, and fired.  
  
Everybody dodged -some more gracefully than other-, and surrounded the crazed digital beast.  
  
"We must stop him! He might go berserk on the streets!" said Ranma. Being the most experienced combatant, he knew of the consequences of such a threat. A course of action had to be taken...  
  
"Takato, Guil! Distract him!"  
  
"Got it! Let´s go, Guil!"  
  
Both brothers-in-arms closed in, dodging Gorillamon´s clumsy strikes, and bombarded him with fists and kicks. That only annoyed the monster, but that was really the idea...  
  
"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!!!!!!"  
  
Gorillamon roared as hundreds of sonic-fast punches rained on his side, and he was forced to break off his new assailant. He tried to smash the annoying pest, but Ranma quickly got out of harm´s way.  
  
The gun-toting ape began firing indiscriminately, endangering the boys. Even some stray shots got out of the field, damaging nearby buildings.  
  
"C´mon, Jen!!" shouted Takato "don´t just gape there!! We gotta stop him!!"  
  
Jenrya was frozen. It was the very same Gorillamon that had tried to kill Terriermon back on the Digital World!! He couln´t let his friend fight that psycho! He could get hurt!! He could get kil-"  
  
"Jenrya!!! Snap Out of it!!! If we don´t stop him, he WILL KILL US AND OUR FRIENDS!!!!"  
  
Jenrya knew Takato was right, but knowing it and doing something about it were two different things.  
  
´If we fight, Terriermon could get hurt, or killed.... but if we don´t... he WILL die...´  
  
There was no real choice...  
  
"Terriermon! Card Slash! Hyper-Speed, Activate!"  
  
"Yay! Now we´re cooking!" said the dog-rabbit, as he darted to and fro, striking the ape with lightning-fast pot-shots.  
  
´Well, let´s see if this thing works...´ "Guilmon, get ready! Card Slash!! Power Activate!!"  
  
Guilmon reared his head, gathered fire in his mouth, and-  
  
"Pyro-Sphere!!!!!!"  
  
-shot it towards, the Digital King-Kong, weakening immensely... and making him even madder...  
  
"...Takato..."  
  
"...I know, dad... he won´t stop... he won´t listen..."  
  
"...i have to do this... I´m sorry..."  
  
"...me too, dad... me too.... Guil! Ter, Jen! Back off, NOW!!!"  
  
The four young ones went back, behind Ranma´s glowing form. Jenrya and Terriermon wondered what was going on, until Ranma spoke:  
  
"...listen here boys: when I count three, those who can shoot energy blasts will shoot them to the big monkey. Got that? OK... one... two.... THREE!!!"  
  
"Terrier Tornado!!"  
  
"Pyro-Sphere!!"  
  
"MOUKO TAKABISHA!!!!!!!!"  
  
Yes, it was overkill, and Gorillamon´s body just couldn´t take the strain. His data dispersed into the night.  
  
"Yes, we did it Terriermon! We did it! We- hey, why the gloomy faces?"  
  
...yes, for a victorious battle, the Saotome´s were unusually silent...  
  
"...Jenrya... one of the founding pillars of our art, is to use it to protect, never to destroy... both Takato and me, have done something that had to be done to protect the lives of innocents... but to do so, we had to destroy another living creature... and for all the power our art gives us... we still can´t bring back the dead..."  
  
Jenrya stared at Ranma´s serious face, at Takato´s troubled one, at Guilmon´s slow realization... and understood.  
  
They weren´t mere Martial Artist-or Digimon Tamers- anymore...  
  
They were warriors now...  
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Hello, nuurse! Well, sorry for the gloomy ending of today's episode, but it was something that bothered me: how in the show, both Taks and Jen had little problem with deleting Digimon, even when they were aware of the being´s self-awareness... also, it wouldn´t mix well with Ranma´s "don´t kill" policy -remember, he only has killed once, and only to save the life of someone he cared deeply for...  
and as for the last "warriors" remark, it´s my personal belief that real warriors are those who volunteer themselves to the horrors of war, and having to kill other human beings, so the majority of us can keep our innocence mostly intact... I dislike war as much as any sensible human being, therefore I admire those who go into a hell they hate as much -or more- than I do, so I don´t have to... to all the real warriors, from wherever country you are, may the peace be with you.  
  
Okay, enough depression for today! Let´s review the reviews!!  
  
To Black and Regless: you are weird... but so am I!!  
  
To Liiya Wolf: hey, Tak´s a Saotome! he´ll be break dancing faster than you think! Now, I have to balance the action between ´Kato and Guil, so the red Wonder won´t be doing too much... just what´s needed, when Takato can´t be the hero. Oh! how was ´Kato´s and Jen´s sparring session, uh? :P  
  
To SerpentTreize: Thank you! About the ´more fighting´ bit, let me get some steam, alright? I know the fighting scenes have been short and plain, but I ain´t no good with them... of course, any help would be appreciated...  
  
To AngelSakura: Gee, I´d prefer to think I´m rewriting the story with a twist. :P  
To Sora Potter: I know this nice little store in Texas that sales bullet-proof vest via mail order. Oh! And tell Foxy i said hi.  
To AAron: Thank you, teacher!  
To Ran: Zuquiaomon, God-King of the Phoenix? Heh, cute. and don´t kill ´Kazu as of yet. it´s funnier to torture him. bwahahahahahah!  
To Canis Black: Ruki, a cross between Akane and Nabiki? Wow, you´re right! who woulda thought?  
  
To Jedi Takeru: Thanks man! Your stories are very good, too!   
  
To John Surber: Yeah, I didn´t think it would work out, either!! :P 


	7. The politically correct term is Small Pe...

Ooowwww...... man, what a hangover...... I´ll never party a whole weekend again....  
....Uh...? Whatcha doin´here again, folks?.....  
....What?!?! You want another chapter?!?!?! But I´m dieing here!!!! Owww, don´t shout, Otaku.....  
Groan.... Okay, okay, I´ll do it, just stop those jack hammers in my skull, please...  
Disclaimer: Oh, woe is me, I own nothing! Nothing I tell you! Boohoo!!  
The Wild Tamer  
  
By Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama)  
Chapter 7: The politically correct term is "Small People"...  
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It was the day, after the Battle of Gorillamon. Having a day to unwind after what happened, everybody involved had come to terms with the outcome of the battle, and had agreed that there was no real choice to stop the demented Digimon but destroy it -and anyway, THAT particular digital life form didn´t look too sentient, anyway...-  
  
So, our young Heroes -Takato, Guilmon, Jenrya and Terriermon- were back on their usual cheerful moods -as befit ten-year-old kids, of course...-  
  
Now, Takato was cheerfully walking to school, while humming the latest Two-Mix hit, and was about to enter the school property, when....  
  
"Whoa, there! What´s all these people doing here?!"  
  
Yes, people were there -students, teachers, the janitors, even the principal!-, and they were all watching... the white lines sprayed on the yard.  
  
"Man, this is a mess!! Look at all those lines!" said Random Student Number 13  
"...just howdaheck did it happen?!?!" said No. 7  
"This looks like those creepy symbols on that American movie, ´Signs´! You know, the one with that Braveheart guy!"  
"...ohmygosh, I bet those´re Satanic Ritual Symbols, and they´ll use the school for a Human Sacrifice to the Very Mean Forces Of Darkness!! We´re all doomed!! DOOMED I SAY!!!"  
"...you´ve been watching scary movies again, haven´t you, Kenta..."  
"Shut up, ´Kazu! This is serious!! They could be from... The Cult of Bill Gates!!!"  
  
By the time, everybody was giving their space to the recognized school loonies, while sweat dropping like it was going to get out of fashion tomorrow.  
  
Takato just thought the lines looked like somebody had doodled with the line marker used for the Soccer games...  
  
Well, at least it wasn´t the Drug Crazed Spearmen of the Cult of the Holy Shoe again...  
  
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During lunch, the rumours had gotten even weirder: from the haunting spirits of long-gone students that had disappeared during detention, to a secret government experiment.... when Kazu and Kenta suggested it was a Digimon doing that, everybody laughed -except Takato, who was too busy coughing.  
  
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"Oh dear, what a day..." said Juri, as she cleaned up her classroom -standard procedure for japanese school kids-.  
  
Katou Juri was not a happy camper. Well, in reality she wasn´t camping at the moment, and had never visited the countryside, but... aww, you get the picture!  
  
Not only had she damaged her new glasses -nothing serious, just a bent frame that her step mom would fix back at home-, but also she had to go to the school´s nurse station -place she disliked, as most health-care facilites-... and there...  
  
"Hey, Juri-Chan! What´s up? Need any help?" That, was Takato.  
  
Juri couldn´t avoid the heavy blush from covering her face, since she had the biggest crush with the handsome, chivalrous -and friggin´ strong- young Martial Artist... a good thing she wasn´t wearing the Cursed Ono Glasses of Silliness at the time...  
  
"H-ha-hai, Takato-Kun! I mean, if you want too..." she trailed off...  
  
"Sure, Juri-Chan! That´s what friends are for!"  
  
Juri sighed a little. Yes, he was handsome, chivalrous -and friggin´strong, don´t forget!!- but he could be so clue less... then again, that was part of his charm...   
  
"Um, Juri... you feeling alright? I mean,you looked a little spaced out there for a minute... you Okay?"  
  
´Ohmygosh, he´s soooo niiiice!!!! Worrying so much about meeee!!!!!!!!´ thought delighted the Sock puppet girl... of course, failing to notice he would express the same concern for Hirokazu, Kenta, Jenrya, Guilmon, Terriermon -heck, even Renamon and the Redhead!- had they been in the same boat... but let´s let her dream, ok?  
  
"Well, I´m... kinda scared, you know?... With those creepy lines on the backyard.... and that monster the principal saw the other day... -Takato sweat dropped at that one- ...and... well..."  
  
"What is it? You can tell me..." said a leaning Takato.  
  
´Gee, somebody turn off the heater!´ "..I think I saw a monster... at the nurse station..."  
  
"Really? How did it look like?" Takato placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
´HE is touching MEEEEEEEE!´ "I-i-i-i-i -cough- I mean, I didn´t see it very w-w-well... but i-it was small, had bright green eyes... and flew past me and knocked me over!! And I´m soooo scared!!"  
  
"Shhh, it´s okay, Juri-Chan... I´ll never let anything happen to you..." said Takato, while holding her lightly and caressing her back.  
  
´YES!!!! Score!!!!´ thought a totally delighted Juri.  
  
"...or ´Kazu, or Kenta, or anyone of my friends!!"  
  
´...aww crud...´ thought a not-delighted-anymore Juri.  
  
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"...so, your friend saw a monster at the nurse station..." said Jenrya, a pensive look on his face.  
  
"M-hm... she was very shaken with that.... I wonder if it has anything to do with the white lines at the backyard..."  
  
"Momentai, Takato-mon! I bet your girlfriend just wanted you to hold her in your strong arms, and drown herself in the deep of your eyes, and-" "Terriermon!!!!" Momentai, Jen!"  
  
Takato smiled; it was always amusing seeing the two friends playfully arguing over the smallest things... he blushed a little at Ter calling Juri-Chan his girlfriend, but... well, she´s a girl, and she´s his friend, and that´s what the word means anyway! Yeah, that´s it! And Takato smiled again.  
  
Now, if any of my dear readers wants to bash Takato for being a blockhead, please take a number and wait on line...  
  
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That night, a stealthy shadow moved on the school grounds, shrouded in the darkness... it had an objective to fulfill, and nothing would stop it! No power, be it mortal or otherwise, could stand to it´s might! Nothing could stop it now! With it´s cunning mind and powerful arm, it tore apart the bindings that separated it from it´s target, and seeing what it had come for, it released a powerful and mighty cry of victory:  
  
"Culu-culu!!"  
  
Alright, so it wasn´t that mighty...  
  
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The next day was not an school day.  
  
Too bad Guil and Takato-mon had to go anyway...  
  
"Takato-mon? Why are we here?"  
  
"Because I´m in charge to feed the class´ rabbits this weekend, Guil. They just can´t be left alone: they´d be hungry!"  
  
"UUhhhh, being hungry is so baaaad..... " said a sympathetic Dino-Boy.  
  
"...yeah, there´s nothing worse than being hungry..." said Takato. Well, he IS his dad´s son...  
  
Arriving at the empty school, they saw the Principal and a teacher, dumbly watching the new white chalk doodles that covered the yard.  
  
"...I told you to lock the sports shed, dang it! But does anybody here listen to the Principal? Nooooooo! It´s always ´The Principal´s a loon!! The Principal sees Dinosaurs!! The Principal needs Therapy!!"  
  
"...But I locked the shed, really!! But they forced the lock, and took out the line marker, and did it again and are you listening?"  
  
"...Why nobody respects me?!?! WHY!?!?!?! It´s not my fault my lunatic cousin made a war zone of Fuurinkan High years ago!!"  
  
Takato had to pity his Principal, as he sneaked Guilmon past the two adults. Yes, it´s hard to be related to Principal Kuno...  
  
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Takato poured the lettuce and carrots for the furred pets, a he saw Guilmon and a rabbit sniff each other in curiosity. It was funny how Guil, with those Bat-Ears on top of his head, looked somewhat like Salvador Dali´s view of a rabbit, heh!  
  
Suddenly, Guilmon´s attention was attracted somewhere else, as an unexpected smell reached his nose.  
  
"Takato-mon...."silently said Guilmon "..there´s a Digimon nearby..."  
  
Takato quickly changed his mood from amused to serious. With silent agreement, they went in search of the unknown being. Seeing Guilmon point behind a heavy roller, both Tamer and Digimon jumped to surprise their target, assuming combat stances-  
  
-and saw nothing.  
  
Glanced left and-nothing. Glanced right and-zero. Glanced up and... yep, nada.  
  
THEN they glanced down...  
  
"...hello, there, lil´fella! Who are you?"  
  
"HIiiiiiiii!!! I´m Culumon!! Who´re you? You´re funny! Wanna play with the big, round ball? I´ll be Maradona!!-"  
  
"...err, that´s nice..." said Takato, sweat dropping lightly. Man, but was this Digimon high or something? Well, at least it seemed harmless enough...  
  
"-and Culumon´ll run and run and pass the other kids and kick the big round ball into the biiig net thingy and eeeverybody´ll cheer Culumon! Culu!"  
  
"...ooookayy... say, Culumon, do you have a Tamer? or Partner?"  
  
"...Culu? Culumon don´t know whatya talkin´bout..."  
  
"...a Digi Destined?... tutor?... parole officer?... no, guess not..."  
  
Takato was, arguably, the Nicest Boy on Earth, so it wasn´t a surprise when he decided that Culumon needed a partner, and he would find him one -even if he had to fight the entire Kuroma Yakuza Clan. Again.  
  
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Some twenty minutes later, Takato and Guilmon had managed to bring Culumon to Guilmon Arms, where Jenrya and Terriermon were already waiting for them. As they saw the Flying Cream-Puff and Gojira´s Nephew playing Peek-A-Boo, they discussed Culumon.  
  
"...I don´t know, Takato... Yeah, Culumon might need some looking over, but in the end it´s going to be his decision, not ours..."  
  
"I know, Jen... but at least we gotta try... I wouldn´t feel right just leaving Culumon all by himself..."  
  
"...oh, alright, you convinced me... why don´t we leave Culumon here with Guilmon, while the rest of us go find some candidate..."  
  
And off they went...  
  
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"Look, Jen! That´s my friend Hirokazu. He knows a lot about Digimon -he´s passably good with the card game, and all..."  
  
Jenrya pondered this, while he saw ´Kazu play The Game.  
  
"Ha! Take THAT!! That´s what you deserve for challenging Shiota Hirokazu, the Digimon Thunder of Shinjuku Primary School!!! Bwahahahahahah!!!!"  
  
"...in times like these, Saotome-San´s tales of his old High School in Nerima don´t sound so farfetched..." said Kenta, as he acted as he didn´t know the raving loony that was his best friend.  
  
"...oookayyyy..." sweat dropped Jenrya, as he wondered about the most polite way to tell Takato that his friend was a nut job. "... uhhh... don´t you think he´s a bit... overzealous about winning? How would he treat Culumon?"  
  
Takato had to think about that, and given his vivid imagination, it wasn´t that hard picturing ´Kazu in a white gi, a bandanna on top of his head, wearing round glasses, holding a tied-up Culumon over a pit, while raving about his trainee learning the dreaded Gatomon-Ken...  
  
"....maybe you´re right..."  
  
"Hey Jen, Taks! And how about Suichon?"  
  
"Uh? Who´s that, Terriermon?"  
  
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Later, the Three Musketeers arrived at the Lee family´s Apartment. There, they met Jenrya´s little sister, while playing dress-up with her dolls.  
  
"Hey, this´d work! I mean, if she takes care of Culumon like she does to her dolls..."  
  
"Umm, Takato... imagine that, but make it for Everyday, at Every hour... "  
  
Once again, Takato´s Supercharged Imagination took over, this time seeing Suichon giving Culumon a French name, squeezing the life out of him, and locking him next to a black piglet in a room full of ´kawaii´ stuff, with small tags with their new French names... he had to shudder at this image...  
  
"...okay, next idea..."  
  
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Back to the park they went, and sitting on a bench...  
  
"...Mmmh, and why not a girl of our same age? Like somebody we might now?"  
  
Takato liked the sound of that idea. And, picturing the only girl he knew more than on sight... he pictured Juri facing Culumon, staying silent for a while, then... "Waaaaahhh!" ...getting scared spit less. Nope, didn´t work either...  
  
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Meanwhile, back at the Bat-Cave....  
  
"Culu? Guilmon wanna go out and play with Culumon?"  
  
"Guilmon can´t... Guilmon stay here and look after Culumon..."  
  
"Culu? But Guilmon can look after Culumon outside too!"  
  
"No, Takatomon said Guilmon is too big, and can´t look after Culumon outside..."  
  
"...but if Guilmon is soo biiig, Guilmon can look after Culumon outside too!!"  
  
"...Guil?"  
  
"...Culu?"  
  
"...Guil?"  
  
"...Culu?"  
  
"...Culumon wanna go outside? Guilmon protect Culumon..."  
  
"Yay! Let´s go!!"  
  
...if you don´t know what kind of high-flight conversations take place at your local City Hall, this can serve you as an example...  
  
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"...Culu, it´s gonna be Looooots of fuuuuun!!!! And we´ll kick the ball and we´ll run with the ball and we kick the ball on that biiig net thingy and I get to be Maradona and-awww, the door´s clooooseeeeeed....." moaned Culumon, in a cute -and annoying-way.  
  
"Don´t worry! Guilmon dig tunnel to get into small house! No problemo!"  
  
Once again, Culumon took effective possession of the Line maker thingy, this time with Guilmon as convenient one-dinosaur-power engine, and began to doodle on the ground -and no, it´s wasn´t a Satanic Pentagram, as Father O´Malley keeps saying!-  
  
...That was when things got... weird...  
  
"...culu? Culumon don´t like freaky mist..."  
  
"Don´t worry, little one, Guilmon will protect you..." said the Crimson Dinosaur, both from his gentle heart and the sense of duty that Ranma-Sensei-Mon has been instilling in him.  
  
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"Guilmooon!! Culumoooon!! Where are those two?!"  
  
"Calm down, Takato, I´m sure they´re okay... what could happen to them?"  
  
"...My dad always says: ´Squirt, there are words that most never be said: "what could go wrong", "at least it´s not raining", and "Tomboy".´ Don´t know what he mean with the last one but..."  
  
Takato´s ramblings when he caught sight of a strange glowing mist that covered his school.  
  
"C´mon, guys, I think I found them!!"  
  
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He was evil...  
  
He was the incarnation of everything wrong with any world...  
  
He was mighty, powerful, and struck fear in his enemies´ hearts...  
  
He surveyed his new domains, and-  
  
"Waaahhhh!!"  
  
-came face to face with Guilmon´s sniffing snout. When you´re one foot tall, that stuff happens...  
  
"You´re small too! Guilmon´ll protect you!"  
  
...now, apart of being evil, mighty, powerful and fearsome, he was also big-headed, and short-tempered...  
  
"How dare you say that I, the Mighty Vilemon, needs the protection from some steroid-pumped Agumon wanna-be!! I´ll destroy you and load your data! And your little dog, too!!" said the pocket-sized demon, while pointing at Culumon, and started to chase the other two, firing randomly.  
  
Then, the Digi-friends arrived. taking on the situation, and seeing the hovering Vilemon raining mayhem and chaos on the school yard, he readied a card, and slashed it.  
  
"Digi-Modify!! White Wings Activate!!"  
  
White, diaphanous wings grew on Guilmon´s back, and he shot skyward ho.  
  
"Hey, no fair! That´s cheating!!" yelled Vilemon, while trying to dodge Guilmon.... and not succeeding.  
  
With a fast combo of claw-kick-claw and a downward axe kick, Guilmon showed Vilemon just how hard the ground was.  
  
Guilmon´s wings faded away as he touched down, and took a stance besides Takato. He was about to celebrate his victory, when the undefeated Vilemon took advantage of their distraction, and fired to the ground at Guilmon´s and Takato´s foot, blinding them and making them loose their footing.  
  
´Arrgh!! Stupid! Never let your guard down!´ berated himself the Gogglehead, has he coughed is lungs inside out. Vilemon was about to finish the job, when a sudden cry of "Diamond Storm!!" put an end to his plans.  
  
"Looks like we saved the boys´butts..." said Ruki, grinning infuriatingly. "Now, we´re your opponents."  
  
"Hah! I´ll kill that yellow foxie and load her! You´re miiiineeee!!!!!!!!" yelled a furious Vilemon, as he shot an unconcerned -and immobile- Renamon. Shame he was too engrossed on himself, to notice Ruki slashing a card, and yelling "Alias!".  
  
The mini-devil rejoiced, when he saw his attack explode all over the Kitsune... he puzzled when Renamon´s data failed to appear... he dismayed when he heard his former victim behind himself, shooting her own attack at him... he roared in pain as he was deleted and absorbed...  
  
"No need to thank me, boys... I only wanted the data-"  
  
"How can you be so cruel!!!!" Yelled a furious Takato. Ruki was completely taken aback by his sudden fury.  
  
"I know he was a danger, and he had to be stopped! But you should have tried another approach first! Killing must be the LAST resource, not the FIRST!!!" Takato had to restrict himself... didn´t she value the life she had just taken?  
  
"...what do you mean by ´kill´, Gogglehead! Digimon are just data, they´re NOT alive! They don´t feel anything!!"  
  
Takato was about to lose it, but something stopped him. He understood... he saw...  
  
"..you really believe that, don´t you..." said he, voice calm and... sad...  
  
"..you really believe they don´t live, or feel... gods, you most feel so lonely..."  
  
Ruki´s breath caught in her throat. H-how... did he...  
  
"...but you must understand... if Digimon are just Data, then humans are just flesh and blood... we are all more than the sum of our parts... we feel, we laugh, we cry... we live..."  
  
Ruki closed her eyes. How dare that idiot boy lecture her, make her doubt herself....  
  
...make her want to cry...  
  
Not wanting to crack in front of others, she spun around, ready to leave, when-  
  
"Culu! Hiii! Who´re you? Wanna be friends?"  
  
Ruki stared at the creature near her feet. She couldn´t believe such... naïveté... and innocence...  
  
Suddenly, a rush of wind blew beside her, and she glimpsed two hands that grabbed the small, white creature, and took it out of her reach.  
  
"...uhh, look... thank you for helping us, really, but... don´t hurt Culumon, please? He´s completely harmless, and innocent, and...." Takato trailed off, staring into her gorgeous violet eyes... but she shut them tightly. Too many emotions....  
  
Wordlessly, she walked towards Renamon, and both girls walked away. When they were almost out of sight, she took a quick glance behind, while wondering why that idiot Gogglehead released so many and powerful emotions within her...  
  
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The next school day, everybody was staring at the school yard. After all, it´s not everyday that they were witness of mysterious craters littering the ground, and a tunnel that entered the sports shed...  
  
The only two boys -and one wisecracking Digimon- present that knew the truth, decided it was better to keep mum...  
  
...and the Principal wept and cried on how life hated him.  
  
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...okay, here´s the chapter! Happy now?!? Can I go to sleep?!?!?  
  
...oh fer cryin´ ... now you want the reviews....  
  
To FusionBlaster: glad you like it... as for it being too silly for your tastes... gawddarnit, it´s supposed to... it´s a Digimon/Ranma crossover, not Evangelion!!! As for how Ranma got rid of all his curses -Fiancees and Jusenkyo- well, that... is a secret!! ^_^  
  
To JediTakeru: Yeah, poor Jenrya´s gonna be having trouble sitting for a while... heh!  
  
To Sora Potter AND ChaosRenamon: my two Beautiful Señoritas... I´m honored you like the story so far... but would you please lower that shotgun? It´s kinda unnerving me...  
  
To SerpentTreize: I´m just plain, ol´fashioned nuts. Ranma Characters? If I need them, I´ll hire them. Most of them work for peanuts -or panties...- Thanks for the support!  
  
To D3Fan: such compliments from someone who I consider one of the best Digi-authors around, makes my wounded ego soar... Thank You, Sempai!!  
  
To CanisBlack: do you really think that any kind of training´s gonna level Jenrya to Saotome Levels? I think NOT!! : P And how to change the Digi-Queenie´s outlook on life? Well, today´s a start... and seeing Taks and Guil fighting side by side´s gonna rattle her ground a bit, too! Icedevimon? Now, that... is a secret!!  
  
To ShadowStalker: Well what do you know, I´ll have to put a warning: "This fanfic can cause death by laughter, read under own risk". Thank-ee-ya!!  
  
To Ran: Thanks! Now, Cologne´ll be too busy with her "Nerima Fried Chicken and Udon"franchise to do anything... 3000 years of Amazon History have nothing on the power of Capitalism!! And Digimon Thunder vs Blue Thunder? Naw, Tate-Wacky has mellowed out... thank Kami-Sama for heavy medication!!  
  
Also, special thanks to those who readed and reviewed "The Wild Tamer: Omake Time!!", it´s nice knowing it was well liked! But don´t expect me to put on more chapters of that one very often... I just can´t be that drunk all the time....  
Sayonara, Señores y Señoritas!! (Specially the Señoritas... wink, wink!!)  
  
Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama) 


	8. Red, red hair

One silly fic coming up!!  
Disclaimer: If you don't tell anybody, then I won't tell either...  
The Wild Tamer  
  
By Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama)  
  
Chapter 8 : Red, red hair...  
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´Bored... bored... bored out of my mind...´  
  
Ruki was not a happy schoolgirl. In fact, very few things made her happy anymore; and even then, she wouldn't admit   
she WAS happy, anyway... that's just Ruki for you.  
  
The fact that she was held prisoner in some stuffy private school, wearing some stupid uniform -with a skirt, damn it all!-  
during a boring class... hell, I would be bored too...  
  
Now, the fact that it was Parent's Participation Day, and her only parent present was her mother, to whom she didn't feel   
very connected...   
  
Using the small mirror glued to her pencil case's top -no girl should leave without one, had said her mom...- she glanced back, where her Super model of a mother stood... and saw her speaking on her cell phone, only to hurriedly leave.  
  
'Yeah, that's much better', thought the redhead to herself, trying to believe her own words...  
  
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"...crappy day...stupid day...crappy school...crappy mo..."   
Yep, her mood was foul...but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't muster enough anger to just forget about it all.   
What she needed was...  
  
"...a Digital Field... now, we're cooking!" said Ruki, putting her worries behind and running home. She needed to get out of the stuffy uniform and into her Tamer gear, recall Renamon, get to the Field as fast as they could, and finish the fight before the idiot boys and their Digi-pets interrupted them!  
  
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"...and finally, left-high-kick, Axe-kick, Right-Roundhouse-Kick, Spin, Left-Leg-Sweep, and Right-punch to Solar Plexus when your opponent's down." Finished explaining Ranma to his two students, while Jenrya and Terriermon stood aside, just watching.  
  
Why only watching, you may ask? Well, both Takato and Ranma thought it was out of respect and loyalty to his own sensei.  
Terriermon thought it was to avoid another beating...   
  
Be as it may, the Momentai Brothers were simply awed at the sight before them: Guilmon absorbing Martial Arts as if he was born to it -what was true, in a sense-, Takato defying the Laws of Physics with his aerial Kata... and Ranma, who was not only defying the same Laws, but also taunting them, laughing at them, and flipping them the finger. So to speak.  
  
"Well done, boys" said Ranma, coming to a stop and bidding his students likewise "now, let's cool down for a bit-"  
  
At that moment, three heads snapped to the same direction: a saurian nose sniffing danger, a young mind sensing something not right, and a more experienced soul detecting one non-human, non-animal, high-complexity Ki, resonating with wilderness and aggression... and two other Ki signals heading right to the other one. Oh, the pillar of light and the heavy bank of fog were a good giveaway, too.  
  
"Okay, students, seems like we can practice a bit... let's go!"  
  
At that, the Saotome Army took off towards the Digital Field, Jenrya and Terriermon on their tails -literally, on Guilmon and Terriermon's case...  
  
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"Go, Renamon!" yelled Ruki, glaring at the intruding Allomon. Finally, some stress relief!  
  
Renamon complied wordlessly, aiming a kick towards her latest victim-only to be slapped away by the Allomon's tail.  
  
"...let's see if you like this, Data-pack..." murmured the Redhead, slashing a card. Renamon reacted with an ice-based attack, that should weak the fire-friendly Digimon - only to have it overpowered by Allomon's own ball of fire. The result was a singed and aching Renamon thrown to a nearby pole. Allomon allowed itself a roar of victory, readying itself to finish it's latest Data Meal, when-  
  
"Pyro Sphere!!" "Terrier Tornado!!"  
  
-when Guilmon and Terriermon double teamed the monster, which redirected it's fury towards the newcomers.  
  
"Alright, Guil!" Shouted the youngest Saotome: "now, let's-"  
  
"Stop it!!" Yelled Ruki, seriously pissed off. "This is OUR fight!! Back off before we wipe the floor with you all!!"  
  
The boys were about to snap back at her, but were refrained by Ranma:  
  
"Stop, boys. She's right: it IS their fight."  
  
Jenrya was about to protest, but Takato silenced him with a look."I'll tell you later..." he said, and went back to restrain Guilmon and watch the fight.  
  
Ruki wasn't paying attention to the interlopers anymore. With a glare, she shouted "Card Slash: Paper Chip Plug-In Activated!", filling Renamon with new powers. The yellow Digital Kitsune showered the Allomon with freezing ice, just to finish him off with a Diamond Storm. Only stray data remained, which she hastily absorbed.  
  
The Battling Redhead turned around, and was about to chew the boys for interfering, when-  
  
"Takato" began Ranma "...You know what to do..."  
  
With a nod, Takato stepped forward. Renamon watched him warily, getting on guard, and saw him-  
  
-bow formally and deeply to her.  
  
"I apologize for interfering with your fight, without your permission. I have insulted your honor as a warrior by doing so, but I promise that won't happen again, unless I see your life is in immediate danger."  
  
Renamon stared astonished... this kid was behaving as a real warrior... might as well meet him halfway...  
  
"I accept your apology" said Renamon, responding to Takato's bow on similar fashion, recognizing him as an equal. Takato kept his bow until after Renamon resumed her upright position.  
  
"...humph...samurai stuff, how corny..." said Ruki under her breath. Louder, she spoke: "If you're done with the etiquette classes, we have to get going-"  
  
"Just a minute, girls."  
  
Ruki and Renamon whirled around-and faced an adult, wearing Chinese style clothes -red shirt and black, baggy pants- who stood there, arms crossed... and not freaking out at the sight of the Digimon!!  
  
"First: Renamon, is it? I'm Saotome Ranma, nice to meetcha." Said the Elder Saotome, waving slightly with one hand.  
"You have great talent for combat: perhaps we could spar one day? I'm teaching both my son -Takato- and Guilmon on afternoons, on Shinjuku Park. I'm sure you can find us."  
  
"...I'll think about it..."  
  
"Great! Now, Number two. You, the redhead: fighting on itself ain't wrong or right. But you havta make sure you fight for a good reason... and fighting for the sake of fighting, isn't."  
  
Ruki glared hard at the lecturer, then sharply turn away from them. Without a word, both girls left the place.  
  
"Well, that was nice. Hey boys, ya hungry? let's get some grub, my treat!"   
  
Both Guilmon and Takato cheered at that. Both Terriermon and Jenrya sweat dropped a little... then shrugged and followed the Saotomes. They were getting used to their oddities, anyway...  
  
Unknown to all but one of their group, a pair of bright green eyes had spied on them the whole time...  
  
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Later that night...  
  
"It's been long enough, Renamon. When we first met, you promised me you would Digivolve soon, but that has not been the case!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Ruki..." apologized Renamon, down on one knee. "...I know not of this delay, but I am confident, this situation cannot last..."  
  
"You better... and anyway, what was the deal with you and the Goggle head? You acted like on one of those samurai epics!"  
  
"It seemed the right thing to do at the time..."  
  
"Well, don't do it again. Now leave, I hear mom's coming."  
  
Without a sound, Renamon complied.  
  
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Nearby the Makino Residence, sitting on top of a telephone pole, Renamon pondered her situation.  
  
´There must be something I am missing, some small, but important factor...´  
  
"Whatcha doin' there, Fox-Face? Pouting 'cause yer owner ran out of Alpo fer ya?"  
  
Renamon whirled around, and faced-a small, mischievous-looking Rookie. Not lowering her guard, she asked:  
  
"Who in the seven hells are you....?"  
  
"Name's Impmon, babycakes! Don'tcha forget it!" said the Digital Imp, flashing her an annoying smirk. "And before ya ask, I'll tell ya why I'm here! You know, I saw ya fight today, an' yer pretty good... why dontcha dump that bratty girl? Like bein' her slave?"  
  
"I am no one's slave" said coldly the Fox. "Ruki and I are partners. And now, farewell. Don't bother me anymore."  
  
Renamon turned around but before she could disappear, she had to dodge a small fireball. Annoyed, she heard the departing words of the Imp: "Dump that brat if ya know what's good fer ya!"  
  
Without a glance, she began to walk away... when a pillar of light shot to the skies.  
  
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Takato was walking back home, after dropping Guilmon back at his shed. Ranma has left early, to help Mie with the late afternoon bread batch -she had threatened him to borrow Akane's old mallet if he didn't show up-.  
  
He was minding his own business, when he glanced a shock of reddish hair and a purple broken heart rushing somewhere else.  
  
"Huh? The redhead? Where's she going?"  
  
Curiosity gaining the upper hand over common sense, he sprinted behind her.  
  
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Ruki had already entered the Digital Field. Peering around, all she saw were spider webs everywhere: covering entire trees, park seats, fences... all in all, a creepy sight.  
  
"Ruki, watch out!!" was heard Renamon's shout.  
  
Ruki watched helplessly as a stray shot of unknown origin blasted towards her... and then felt strong arms carrying her away, to safety.  
  
"R-renamon?" asked a shaken Ruki, opening her eyes...  
  
"Err, no, just Takato.... sorry about that..."  
  
...only to stare into the Gogglehead's deep maroon eyes. It was then, that she realized the boy was holding her, one arm around her back, the other under her legs. Her mind slipped a few seconds on Young-Schoolgirl-Gear -allowing her to blush fiercely- before quickly shifting to Digimon-Queen-Gear.  
  
"You can let go now, Goggle head... before I beat you to a pulp..."  
  
"...huh? Oh! S-sorry! I didn't mean anything! Really!!" said Takato, blushing, stuttering, and almost dropping her like a hot potato. Luckily, he regained enough sense to not do that...  
  
´Out of sight, out of mind...´ thought Ruki, and quickly spun from Takato, ready to analyze the Digimon that had attacked her. Nothing like a good fight to take your mind out of the gutter!  
  
"Dokugumon...Champion level, Virus... a full level up, and type advantage... it's gonna be a hard fight...  
  
Renamon had been using physical attack all this time, without any positive result, so she switched to Special Attacks:  
  
"Diamond Storm!!" Yelled she, and at her command, the now familiar deadly rain of explosive crystals shot towards Dokugumon... and did nothing to harm it. Renamon was too surprised to react when the oversized spider shot it's web effectively trapping her. She was helpless to try and save Ruki from Dokugumon's next web attack...  
  
...but Takato was not helpless. Stifling a halfway-scared gasp, he grabbed Ruki and began dodging the spider's sticky silk.  
  
"Put me down, Gogglehead! Put me down!!!"  
  
"Sorry, can't!! Mutant spider behind us!!"  
  
"Eeeek!!! Run faster, Gogglehead!! Run faster!!"  
  
Renamon watched as the young fighter ran around, dodging every web shot from Dokugumon by jumping, bouncing, twisting, ducking and dribbling, while still carrying her Tamer. Taking advantage of the Mega-Arachnid´s distraction, she broke free of the web, and Diamond Stormed the ugly arthropod's back. Turning around, Dokugumon retaliated against Renamon, thus allowing the Twin Tumbling Tamers to stop.   
  
Ruki jumped from Takato's arms, and promptly slashed another card:   
  
"Digi-Modify!! Snimon's Twin Sickles!!"  
  
Now armed with the Insect Digimon's razor-sharp sickles, Renamon attacked...  
  
"Twin Sickles!!!"  
  
...only to have her attack blocked by Dokugumon's horns. In a sudden thrust, it lunged for Renamon, biting her with her poisonous maw, and throwing her to a nearby web. Horrified, she saw the arachnid monster turn towards the two Tamers, readying itself to shoot it's poisonous blast towards them...  
  
...Ruki watched as Dokugumon faced her and the Gogglehead, opening it's mouth for and attack, when Takato put himself as a human shield, while holding her tightly.  
  
"Wha-what are you doing, idiot!?!?!"  
  
Takato just smiled a little, and closed his eyes, awaiting for Dokugumon's blast...  
  
...which was stopped when Renamon threw herself on it's path.  
  
With a cry of pain, she fell down, the poison already consuming her from inside...  
  
"Renamon!!" shouted Ruki, eyes glistening. "Don't you die on me!! Don't you dare die on me!!"  
  
"C'mon, Rena!! Hang on, don't give up!!" were Takato's encouraging, and worried words, while openly letting his tears fall. Things were looking bleak right now...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Culu... please, don't let anything happen to Culumon's friends... please..."  
  
As in response to his plead, the red triangle marking on his forehead began to shine...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
In a flash of light, the defeated figure of Renamon grew and changed, only to be replaced with the proud, powerful body of...  
  
"Kyuubimon!!" shouted the newly evolved Fox Digimon.  
  
"H-how.. how did you..." Ruki was astonished: Renamon had digivolved at last! But, how was that possible?  
  
"You did it, Ruki... your feelings gave me the power to evolve..."  
  
Quickly turning around, Kyuubimon shot her new Fox Tail Inferno attack, burning the webs around them with ghostly balls of mystic fire, fire that Dokugumon managed to dodge.  
  
Charging, Kyuubimon jumped high on the air, spinning over herself until she became nothing but a single, big fireball. With a shout of "Dragon Wheel!", the rolling fire took the form of a flaming flying dragon, which pounced on the Spider Digimon, deleting it almost instantly, and loading it's data.  
  
"Kyuubimon... tell me, how did you..."  
  
"Ruki... this evolved form, is the result of our united hearts... of the link we share... because we are partners...  
  
Ruki stared a bit... and gave a small smirk. "Yeah, right. Whatever you say, Kyuubimon..." She still didn't want to admit she was wrong, they had time for that...  
  
"Now, Gogglehead... about you holding me..." said Ruki, while cracking her knuckles.  
  
"Uhh?!?!? Err... Oh, Geeze, look at the time! Mom's gonna kill me! Bye!!!" Takato decided to practice a little of running.  
  
"Heh, pathetic..." was Ruki's comment, as she hid a small smirk. Funny boy...  
  
Turning around from his mad sprint, Takato yelled to the two partners:  
  
"Glad you two are okay! See you around, Kyuubi-Chan, Ruki-Chan!"  
  
"Hey! Don't ´Chan me, Gogglehead!!" Shouted Ruki,waving a fist to his retreating back.  
  
Kyuubimon stood silent, watching Takato running away. ´Farewell, young warrior... and thanks for protecting Ruki... again...´  
  
"Kyuubimon? You tell anybody what happened here, and I'll be making myself a new fox fur coat..."  
  
"..." Kyuubimon kept her dignified face, as she tried too shake off the sweat drop falling down her head.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Humph. A real kick on the liver if ya ask me... feel like gaggin' myself..." groused a disgusted, lonely -and somewhat jealous- Impmon, as he vanished into the dark.   
°@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~~@~@~@~@@~@~~@@~@~@~@~@~@~~@  
Okay, it is done... not as long or funny as usual, but, anyway... let's just review the Reviews!  
  
To Jedi Takeru: You actually sing the "Duel of the Fates" theme? ...oookayyyy...  
About this being like The Matrix: Sorry, so many bullets are beyond my budget...  
  
To Zack: VERY VERY GRATEFUL. Thanks for the compliments! Now, I hope I'll live long enough to write till the Biomerging...  
  
To Tsunami Wave: glad you like lit, but please let me rest for a bit... it's kinda hard to get some more up soon...  
  
To Duo: Don't you worry, I'm hunting down those annoying misspellings with my AK-47. Soon, they'll be all gone!   
  
To SerpentTreize: Want more insanity? Just you wait...  
  
Himitsu the Hunter: Sorry for the Unholy Alliance... I promise you not to hang out with Khadafi anymore...  
  
To Sora Potter and ChaosRenamon: I'm so sorry! Please don't shoot me!!  
  
To John Surber: ...Jenrya asking himself "Why me... oh dear God WHY MEEEEE!!!" heh, I like... and you'll have to wait... unless you wanna help me write...  
  
To Canis Black: Thank you, man. And Takato has been through enough "Abnormal Feces" to make the Normal Takato -the Matsuki one- to crawl under his bed and call for his mommy... And yeah, Xelloss it's overdone, but the reason I still use it... is a secret.  
  
FusionBlaster: Thank-ee-ya. Obviously I cannot write faster, but I'll try to keep it up. ...you mean the fanfic, don't you... :P  
  
To Ran: Enough medication to keep Tate-Wacky delusion-less? well, that seven-inch nail sticking from his skull must have something to do with it... Oh my, where did this hammer come from? Hey, don't kill 'Kazu yet, I still can use it! And remember: Takato is arguably the Nicest Boy on Earth and its surroundings. Foot In Mouth Disease? Nah, Mie's genes took care of that. But don't worry, we don't need the FIMD to give Taks some rivals... a bunch of pigheaded morons should do! 


	9. The Amazing Disappearing Digimon

...Okay, I know, I haven't written donkey dung for a while...  
  
Disclaimer: I do not claim.  
The Wild Tamer  
  
By Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama)   
  
Chapter 9: The Amazing Disappearing Digimon.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Ruki stared at Kyuubimon, and Kyuubimon stared back. No, it wasn't a staring contest; it's just there wasn't much they could do...  
  
'Kyuubimon said that... that she Digivolved thanks to my feelings for her... but that can't be right, can it? I mean, Digimon are just data, after all...'  
  
Ruki was still very confused. Everything she thought to be true about Digimon, had been put on the "Things I'm Not So Sure Anymore" list, both by her partner's words, her own muffled -and normally repressed- feelings... and by the Gogglehead's attitude, too...  
  
The Gogglehead. That was another confusing issue. Come on, someone who acted like a pansy -being nice, saying 'please' and 'thank you' all the time- was supposed to be a weakling, right? ...And yet, this somewhat emotional kid, had proved himself as specially strong -almost too strong-. A complete contrast.  
  
The redhead had to sigh, even if she didn't really want to -sighing was for wusses, she always had thought-, because things didn't make sense anymore, and this situation just didn't help her to get out of her confusion.  
  
Well, as she ever said: 'When in Doubt, Kick Butt'. She had time to work out this tangle some other time...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Ah, what a nice day!"   
  
Yep, that was Takato: cheerful, optimist, smiley Takato. After all, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, it was still six months before the start of the next Godzilla Season, and he had his Digi-Pal, his Partner, his Friend, his Amigo... you know, Guilmon. And now, he was on his way to visit his friend, and give him his daily Big Bag O' Bread. What could go wrong?  
  
"Mmmh, not a single cloud on the sky.... wonder where did that Ominous Roll of Thunder came from... oh, well!"  
  
Without worries, he leapt up the stairs towards Guilmon's House.  
  
"Hey Guilmoooon! I'm hee-" Slam!!!  
  
"Takato-mooon!! Hii!!! Kato-mon has bread?!?!?"  
  
"...yeah, Guil... now, please get offame..."  
  
"Okee.-dokee!!"  
  
As Guilmon jumped off his Tamer -taking the Big Bag O' Bread with him-, Takato uttered a small chuckle -at the same time he realigned his spine.-  
  
"Heh, you sure are full of energy, Guil... how did you sleep?"  
  
"Graomp gurgle slurp!"  
  
"...okay, I'll wait till you finish eating..."  
  
"Gulp! Guilmon's finished! What did 'Kato-mon say?"  
  
"I asked how did you sleep, Guil." Said Takato with a smile.  
  
"...uh, Guilmon's not sure... Felt as if Guilmon was somewhere else, and saw weeeeird things, and couldn't walk, and it was aaaall white... Was Guilmon on drugs?"  
  
"...Whaaat?!?! Where did you hear that word!!"  
  
"...Guilmon don't know? Anyway, what was that Guilmon did?"  
  
"...I think you were dreaming, Guil... yeah, that must be it!" 'Just were is Guil getting his education from?! Oh yeah, Dad and me..'  
  
"Oooooh... so that's a dream... weird..."  
  
"...Yeah, dreams can be very weird..." 'Specially when you dream of redheaded Tamers before you meet them, and later you DO meet them...'  
  
"C'mon, Guil, let's go for a walk, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, let's go!"  
  
And off they went. Fortunately it was still early, so there weren't many people in the park yet.  
  
"Heh, it's funny, Guil... before I met you, I was always waking up late for school and-Guilmon!!!"  
  
Takato watched, consternate, as a part of Guilmon's tail became translucent and fuzzy, like a static-filled image.  
  
"'Kato-mon.... Guilmon feels weird..."  
  
Not wasting more time, Takato grabbed Guilmon's claw and yanked his partner towards himself. Relieved, he noted Guilmon's body return to normal.  
  
'...just what the heck's happening here....'  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
Some hours later, Takato was at school, pondering on the morning's mystery. When he had talked to Jenrya about it, his new friend hadn't been too comforting... 'maybe Digimon can't stay forever in our world... maybe Guilmon will have to return to the Digital domain... sorry, Takato, I don't have another explanation...'   
  
Not even Terriermon's attempts to lighten the goggle headed Tamer's mood had worked out right. Go figure.  
  
The only reason that our hero wasn't wallowing in fear and depression was his encounter with his friend Juri-Chan. Heh, such a good friend, acting silly to make him forget his fears... wonder how she makes her glasses fog over like that...  
  
The Son of Ranma had come to a conclusion. This was a problem about Digimon, and who was the recognized authority on Digimon that also was a Tamer? Yeah, you guessed...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Naoko walked down the street with her three friends. They were chatting away like most ten year old girls did; that is, school work, clothes, and boys.  
Yeah, boys their age were all immature jerks... why couldn't they be more like, like...  
  
"... Excuse me, ladies... can you help me?"  
  
...like THIS one!! What a cuuuutieeee!!! Handsome face, wild brown hair, funky goggles atop his head -some fashion statement, of course-, and the deepest maroon eyes Naoko had ever seen... and what a bod!  
  
"...S-s-sure!! I'll help you! What do you want? Anything!"  
  
"Thank you so much! I was fearing I would be lost around here!" Said Takato, while giving his sweetest Saotome Smile.  
  
Naoko made a conscious effort not to drool all over herself. "N-no p-problem... what can I do for you...?" 'Or what can you do to me, beefcake...'  
  
"Uuhh, well... I'm looking for a person, you know, that may live around here... has red hair, violet eyes..."  
  
"...yeah, sure, we know lotsa redhead boys around here!"  
  
"Oh, no, she's not a boy, she's a girl! Her name's Ruki, and wears a T-Shirt with a purple broken heart... do you know her?"  
  
"...R-ruk-ki? Ma-ma-kin-no Ru-ki?" This Adonis was looking for 'Nutcracker' Makino?!?! Why?!?!?!?!  
  
"Yeah, Ruki. I hope you can help me find where she lives..."  
  
Naoko sighed. Go figure, all the good ones were taken or had a death wish. But he had asked soo nicely... how could she lie to him?  
  
"...down this street for five blocks, turn left, three blocks, then right. Big house with stone wall. Can't miss it."  
  
"Thank you so much, miss! If you ever need my help and I'm around, I'll be glad to help you. Bye!"  
  
And he left the four girls behind, enjoying their sigh-fest. Suddenly, Naoko started.  
  
"Wait a minute... was there a red dinosaur with that guy...? Naaaahh..."  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
"I'm only going to explain this one more time so do try to pay attention. The network of interlinked electronic devices   
around the world; the Internet, the Stock Markets, and even wire-less communications, has essentially created a whole new plain of   
existence... A digital plain. This system, Hypnos, monitors that world and records every exchange of information across it, looking for   
anything out of the ordinary. Now, is there any question you want to ask?"   
  
"Well, there's one thing that's been bothering me for a while, Mr. Yamaki..."  
  
"And that would be..."  
  
"...What's with the ´Men In Black´ look!? Were you in some Cosplay convention as Agent K or something?!"  
  
Yamaki Tetsuo reminded himself why he hated facefaults. They were undignified, and hurt like hell...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|°°°°°°°°°°°°l  
  
"...let's see... five blocks, left... one block... two blocks... three blocks... hey, Rena-Chan! What's up!"  
  
Renamon stumbled from the shadowed corner where she hid. How did he...  
  
"... I am well..."  
  
"That's nice to hear, Rena-Chan... you had me really worried when that Dokugumon blasted you..."  
  
"Ahem, what are you doing flirting with Renamon, Gogglehead...?"  
  
"Hey, Ruki-Chan! Just the girl I was looking for!" said Takato with a wide and totally innocent smile.  
  
Ruki blinked. Okay, that was new...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"...and that's the story. I was scared stiff when Guilmon began to go all fuzzy... I don't know what I would do if he left me..."  
  
Ruki glanced at Renamon for a second, then returned her stare to the Gogglehead. She didn't know, either... not anymore...  
  
"I don't think I have an answer for you Gogglehead...why don't you-"  
  
"Ruki? Are you home, Granddaughter?"  
  
Takato started. An adult! And Guilmon was on plain sight! They couldn't see him!  
  
Ruki started. Granma! And a Boy was on plain sight! She couldn't see him!  
  
Takato grabbed Guilmon, lifted over his head, and began running around, looking for a hiding place.  
  
"Gaaah! Gotta hide him! Gotta Hide Him! Gotta Hide- There!!"  
  
With a heavy grunt, he managed to propel a giggling Guilmon over the porch's tiled roof, just in time to see an elder -but still attractive- woman enter the den.  
  
"Here you are, Ruki! Why didn't you answer- Oh, hello there, young man! I didn't know we had visitors! Is this boy your friend, Granddaughter?"  
  
Ruki slapped her forehead. Should have hidden the Gogglehead instead of Dino-Boy... it was less embarrassing to explain a red dinosaur than a boy...  
  
"Gogglehead, this is my grandma, Hata Seiko. Grandma, this is Gogglehead, he's not my friend, and he was leaving anyway."  
  
"Uuhh, nice to meet you, Ma'am. I'm Saotome Takato." Said Taks, while bowing formally.  
  
"Nice to meet you, young man. Now, if you excuse me, I have some errands to run. Goodbye, and I hope to see you around often!"  
  
"Sure thing, Ma'am. Goodbye."  
  
Once Seiko was off hearing range...  
  
"Hey, Guilmon? You hear me buddy? You can come -SLAM!!- ...down... ouchies..."  
  
"'Kato-mon? The ground feel soft..."  
  
Renamon and Ruki sweat dropped.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Well, thank you both for having us around, Rena-Chan, Ruki-Chan! Bye!" and the boys, Tamer and Digimon, trotted away.  
  
"Hey, Gogglehead!! You call me 'Chan again, and I kick your sorry butt 'till it falls off! You hear me?!?!"  
  
To emphasize her point, she made a quite passable high kick.  
  
"....mmmh, try leaning a bit more on your waist..."  
  
"...uh?" said a puzzled Ruki, confused enough that she actually complied...  
  
"...and when completing the kick, try to use the outside of your foot... yeah, like that! Perfect! You can learn martial arts really fast, I bet! Bye, Ruki-Chan!"  
  
Ruki tried a few times her new improved kick.   
  
"...what do you know, it actually works- Hey!!! He called me Ruki-Chan again!!! Gogglehead!!!!!"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Chief Yamaki, we found an abnormal surge of random uncompiled data on the Net, and it's having an associated   
effect on the Real World...possible point of contact undetermined, but it's highly probable that the phenomenon will take effect on Shinjuku."  
  
"I see. Keep me informed." said Yamaki, as he left the Hypnos Mainframe Room.  
  
"...Where do you think he went, Megumi?"  
  
"...I don't know... getting together with Agent J maybe?"  
  
"...You are weird, Megumi..."  
  
"I know!!"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
It was already nighttime when Takato and Guilmon were walking back to the park.  
  
"...You know, Guil... we've been together for so little time...but we're been through so much already... man, I don't know what  
I'd do if you leave me..."  
  
"But 'Kato-mon, Guilmon won't go away! Guilmon stay with 'Kato-mon aaaall the time!"  
  
Takato smiled. He could count on Guilmon to cheer him up...  
  
"Thanks, buddy, I'll always be by your side, too-Guilmon!!!!!!!"  
  
Guilmon was once again fuzzy, but now the fuzziness was spreading rapidly all over his body. He couldn't move, and had an   
apprehensive look on his eyes...  
  
"Guil!! Hang on! I'm coming!!" Takato tried to pull Guilmon out of oblivion like that morning, but his hands passed through Guilmon's   
now transparent body.  
  
"'kato-mooonnn..." said Guilmon a last time, before vanishing completely.  
  
Takato fell on his knees, stunned. This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't....  
  
"Guilmoon!! Where are you!!" cried Takato, his desperate voice almost chocking over, his eyes trailing tears, and a faint green aura   
surrounding his body...  
  
"..n-no.. no! No!!" Shouted he in grief and desperate rage, punching the concrete of the walkway, leaving a web of cracks on the   
rock-solid surface, the green aura vanishing from sight.  
  
His hair covering his downcast eyes, he began sobbing softly... until a beeping sound snapped him into attention.  
  
Grabbing the D-Ark that hung from his neck, he watched it's screen, and saw the compass' red arrow intermittently point to a door,   
behind a fence. On it's side, a small sign that said "West Shinjuku Rain Flood Control System - Aqueduct One."  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Oniichaan!! You got phooone!!"  
  
"On my way, Shuichon! Hello, Lee Jenrya speaking..."  
  
"Jen, this is Takato! I need your help!"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Dear, I'm worried about Takato... he hasn't come to dinner..."  
  
Ranma looked on Mie's way, nodded once, then closed his eyes. Mie watched as her husband glowed a whitish hue for   
a few seconds, while turning his head towards the park.  
  
"He's okay, Mie. He's a little upset about something, but he has faith on solving whatever the problem is... and his new   
friend Jenrya's going to meet him..."  
  
"...you know we could get him a cell phone, instead of you using you Ki-sense to feel his emotions, you know..."  
  
"...but my Ki-Sense is cheaper than a cell phone!"  
  
"...point taken. Want more rice?"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Grandma, what are you doing...?"  
  
"Oh, just passing the time, honey... Yeah! Take that! Heat hot lead, Hunter!!"  
  
Ruki sweat dropped. Seeing her grandma chatting away was one thing, but how did she get into playing Quake 3 Arena?!  
  
"Err... I think somebody's knocking the door... I'll go see..." 'The faster I get away from Quaker Granny, the better...'  
  
She went to the door to see who was bothering her... and at this time!!  
  
"Okay, what do you- Gogglehead?!?!?"  
  
"Ruki-Chan, we need your help..."  
  
Ruki was still too weirded out to notice the 'Chan...  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
"Chief Yamaki, every tracer we have sent to the anomaly has been absorbed, and we have been unable to format or delete it! We   
keep getting 'Abort, Retry, Ignore' messages!!"  
  
'Damn you, Gates... I should never have bought that Windows 2000 crap...' "I'll take care of it, Megumi. I have just the right tool..."  
  
"The Neuralizer?"  
  
"Enough with the 'Men In Black' jokes already!!!!! I'm going to use my Yuggoth program from my Palm!"  
  
"...sir? You know the use of unauthorized software is forbidden..."  
  
"I know what I'm doing! I modified my Palm for this kind of jobs! It has state-of-the-art technology! It even runs on Linux!"  
  
"...ooookay.... you're the boss, Chief Yamaki..." said Reika while sweatdropping. Really, what did she see on this nutjob, anyway?  
  
"Of course I am! Now, where's my USB cable..."  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Inside the tunnel, the Three Riders followed their D-Arks compass. After seeing their respective Digimon under the effect of  
the 'Fuzzy Image Effect', both Ruki and Jenrya knew they had to do something, and at the moment, that something was finding Guilmon   
and getting him back. Also, it was decided that the place was too dangerous to let the Digimon near, and both Renamon and Terriermon  
were told to leave the place.  
  
"...I could be in my house, in my futon, classifying my Cards, but noooo! I had to follow the Gogglehead!!"  
  
"...I'm sorry, Ruki-Chan... I didn't mean to bother you, but I didn't know who else to turn to..."  
  
"...call me 'Chan again, and I'll choke you with your own Goggles..."  
  
"Calm down you two! We have more important things to do!"  
  
"You're right, Jen-Hey! What's that white thing!"  
  
In front of them, was the Realized portion of the Data Anomaly, pulsating on it's white chaotic light. And Takato's D-Ark pointed right into it!  
  
"...Takato, how are we getting inside that... that thing?!"  
  
"Yeah Gogglehead! There's no way in!"  
  
Takato gripped his D-Ark on a death grip. Not turning around, he spoke to his tamer Colleagues:  
  
"I don't care if there's no way in! I'll make one if I need to! My friend's in there, and I WILL get him back!!"  
  
Suddenly, Takato's D-Ark began glowing a bright red. He stared at it for a second, then thrusted it towards the Anomaly. A crimson   
ray of light shot forwards. The Tamers, seeing this, did as Takato did, and two more beams -blue and green- joined Takato's red one.   
  
Where the three beams impacted the Anomaly, a portal was opened, and into it the Tamers ran. Inside was a chaotic world of   
glowing clouds, without up, down or gravity. Takato pushed himself forward as if swimming, and his partners joined him. It wasn't long before he could see...  
  
"Guilmon!! I'm Coming, Buddy! Ruki, Jenrya! Throw me towards him!!"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
'Thank you for installing Yuggoth for Windows 2000! Do you want to run the program now? Y/N'  
  
Yamaki smirked as he selected 'Y'.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"What's happening!" Yelled Ruki, as part of the threads that imprisoned Guilmon started to dissolve into raw data bytes.  
  
"I don't know, but Takato and Guilmon are in danger!" responded Jenrya. Dammit, why did thingds always change for the worse!  
  
Takato had reached Guilmon, and as the white threads kept on dissolving towards the Dinosaur, Takato began tearing them from his   
partners body with his own hands. And just in time: as the last of the threads was thrown away, it dissolved into nothingness.  
  
"Ta...kato...moon... came for me....?"  
  
"Of course, Guil!" said an exhilarated Takato, while hugging his partner. "You're my friend! I won't anything keep you from me!"  
  
Both partners began glowing a soft but visible red hue, that shot from them towards the exit portal, and became a solid path.   
Now with a solid foothold, the entire rescue party sprinted out of the collapsing Anomality... and just on time, because it disappeared as soon as they  
stepped out of it. Soon, they all were outside the Aqueduct.  
  
"Okay, it has been fun... not. Don't bother me anymore with your problems, got that?"  
  
"Sure thing! But anyway, I want to thank you all for helping us. Dad says. 'Don't ever forget those who have helped you on the past, because they are so few.' Anything you need from me, I'll be happy to help you."  
  
"Don't worry, Takato. Terriermon and I are your friends, and this is the least we could do." "Momentai, 'Kato-mon! That's right!"  
  
"Again, thank you, but we have to leave now... Hey Guil, why don't you go to your hut? You must be exhausted..."  
  
"Yawn, Guilmon's almost asleep... G'bye 'kato-mon... G'bye, Every-mon..." and Guilmon stumbled home, where he collapsed and fell asleep promptly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm leaving too. Goodbye, Jen, Ter! Goodbye, Rena-Chan, Ruki-Chan!" and takato was off, sprinting home.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you!!! Don't call me 'Chan!!!!!! And you two don't laugh!!!"  
  
"Momentai, Ruki-Chan!!"  
  
"...I'm in the mood for stewed rabbit right now...."  
  
"Eeeep!!! Jen, let's run!!!!"   
  
"What happened with 'Momentai', Terriermon!?!?!?" "Momentai my horn!! I ain't no main course!!! You just run!!!"  
  
Ruki just smirked evilly. Renamon just kept silent. Everything's right with the world.  
@#~@~@~@@~@~@~@~@@~@~@~@~@~@~@~~@@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~  
  
Ha! And you thought I had already abandoned the story, huh? C'mon, I know you did...  
  
Now, let's Review the Reviews!  
  
To Canis Black: Hey, I need a bad guy to justify Taks and Guil going Mega... so Beelzebumon stays. Of course, being on the business   
end of an "Amaguriken Lance" won't be fun... for Beelzebumon!  
  
To Stardog: You're assuming my fingers will last till I write the Sovereigns arc... optimist are you?   
  
To SerpentTreize: Hell yeah!  
  
To dingchavez1984: Glad you liked Chap. 8, and that you decided to review. Thanks! As for more Rukato..  
Okay, I'll admit I am Rukatoholic... but this is Saotome Takato... he'll have suitors coming from under the woodwork...  
and for Tak's training kicking in: the guy's ten, don't expect him to toss Ki-blast... for now.  
  
To Ran: Nerima's full of pigheaded morons... but so is half the world anyway... somehow I'll give Taks some rivals. Glad you liked the chap 8,and   
yeah, love polygons are in order!  
  
To Sora Potter and ChaosRenamon (And Akira too!): (Singing off key) Why can't we be friends/why can't we be friends/why can't we be friends/  
why can's we be friends..(end of ugly song) Glad you all liked the chappie 8. Now, Sora, why's your sister bleeding, anyway...  
  
To Jamie: Takato will pay... but Ruki's gonna change how she wants to collect... Give Ruki the Ono Cursed Glasses of Silliness? She'd kill me if I do that!  
  
To Liiya Wolf: Thank you dude! Glad you like both chapter and Omake! I see you are Rukatoholic like meself, huh? And as for how Ranma and Mie met... does it really matter? Okay, if enough people start asking, I might write about it.... Ranma give Taks love advice? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!  
  
To Duo: Glad you like the story so far, man! And don't worry, my AK-47 will do!  
  
To Tsunami Wave: Hey, I'm no candyman, you know? :P  
  
To FusionBlaster: More advanced techniques? Isn't a ten year old going hand to hand with Digimon enough? Geez, he ain't Goku!!  
ookay, that's all folks! See you whenever! 


	10. CharBroiled

Aaaaaand it's Wiiiiild Taaaamer tiiiime!!!!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Eiffel Tower, the Bill of Rights, or the word 'Serendipity'.   
Oh, 'Digimon Tamers' and 'Ranma 1/2' either.  
The Wild Tamer  
By Otaku-Sama (ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama)  
Chapter 10: Char-Broiled.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"...okay, kids, let's call it a day, okay?"  
  
" huff, puff... sure thing... dad... huff" "okee-dokee, Sensei-mon!"  
  
Ranma smiled in contentment. His two students were making giant leaps on their mastery of the Art.  
Not only was Guilmon a natural -he took to the Tendo-Ryuu's more earth-based style like a Phoenix to a   
volcano-, but his sparring sessions with Takato had sparked a new drive in his son's own quest for mastery.   
'After all,' he thought, 'there´s nothing like a challenging sparring partner to keep you on your toes. And Guilmon's  
there everyday for Takato, instead of getting lost in Namibia or something! At this pace, he would be ready   
for the Ki-focusing training in a week or two!'  
  
"...hey dad, what are you thinking about?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, nothing important. Why don'tcha go ahead, squirt? Your mom'll be waiting for you, and   
I feel like walkin' under the stars for a while..."  
  
"...mom got you on the doghouse again, huh?"  
  
"Wha!?! No!! Aww, just go home, kiddo!"  
  
"Heh, heh! Okay, dad! Bye, Guilmon! Sleep well!" "Bye, bye, 'Kato-Mon!! G'night, Sensei-mon!"  
  
With a wry smile, Ranma watched as his son trotted back home, while his new student went to sleep.  
He went down the stairs, walked down the narrow path for a minute, and...  
  
"Ya know? You're some noisy stalker. Why dontcha come here?"  
  
"...heh, if tha ol' man wantsta play Kung-Fu with tha Mighty Impmon, who am I ta say no, huh?"  
  
Impmon sauntered from the bushes to the man's front, smirking devilishly.  
  
"Heh, betcha wettin' yer pants just by watchin' me! Impressed?"  
  
"...not really. Now why dontcha be a nice lil' Digimon and tell me what's on that Teddy-Bear head of yours?"  
  
Impmon faltered a bit. This wasn't going according to script!  
  
"Who ya calllin' 'Nice lil', ya Chinaman!! Wanna piece a me?!?!" sneered the Imp, while lifting a finger   
-not THAT finger, dammit!!- and summoning a fireball over it's tip.  
  
"Hey, not bad. Betcha I can do better!"  
  
"Hah! Alzheimer gatcha a'ready, Pops?"  
  
'Pops, huh? We'll see...' thought Ranma, and lifted his own finger, where a ball of light, the size of a golf  
ball, coalesced.  
  
Did I say golf ball? I meant, the size of a baseball...  
  
...uuhh... a volley ball...  
  
...a medicinal ball...?  
  
...the size of Aunt Emma's County Fair's First Prize Pumpkin?!?!?!  
  
Impmon dusted the dirt from his dropped jaw and reattached it. He stared at Ranma's Big Ball of Ki, then   
at his Zippo-sized flame. Big Ball. Zippo. Big Ball. Zippo.  
  
"Gaah!! How come yer's bigga than mine!!!"  
  
Ranma just shrugged. "Hey, they don't call me 'Wild Horse' for nothin' you know?"  
  
The double meaning went past over Impmon's head... then again, Ranma didn't catch it either...  
  
"....hahahahahah!! Just jokin' 'round, man!! Really!! No sweat, 'kay?!" said a frantic Impmon, waving his arms   
as if trying to fly, dismissing his fireball like a birthday cake's candle.  
  
Ranma just shrugged again and reabsorbed his Ki. "Hey, don't sweat it, kid. I ain't your father, you know?  
As long as you don't go around hurtin' people, I'm cool. See you 'round, Smiley."   
  
Without glancing back, Ranma went past Impmon and down the path. Ten minutes later...  
  
"...yeah, run 'way, Pops!! Yer no match fer tha Mighty Impmon, anyway!! Bwahahahahah- betta go before   
he comes back..."  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
The next day at school, during the first break, Takato's schoolmates were discussing what Ms. Asagi had  
told them earlier.  
  
"..I can't believe there's some kid scaring the couples at the Park!! And with firecrackers! Somebody   
could get hurt, you know?"  
  
"No kidding! I bet it's some boy like the ones on our grade! They are all soooo immature!!"  
  
"Hey!! I resent that!! We are not immature!!" Said Kenta, ticked off.  
  
"Yeah, we ain't im-imma- we ain't little kids!! Nyaaa!!" Raspberried Hirokazu. Kenta just sighed.  
  
Takato looked up from his third lunch box.  
  
"Um, girls? Do you really think we all are immature?"  
  
The girls stopped their rants dead, and turned towards the young Saotome.  
  
"Noooo!! O-of course not, Takato-Kun!! Tee-hee!!" Giggled a blonde, twin-ponytailed girl on a   
striped t-shirt.  
  
"...ummm... there are exceptions... very nice exceptions..." quietly said a shy girl with very   
short dark bluish hair.  
  
"Yeah, that's right!! Exceptions!! Isn't that right, Juri-Chan!?"  
  
"W-w-why, Ta-takato-Kuuuun!! What are you doing here at the Tea House!?!?!?! Teeheeheeheeheeh!!!"  
  
Takato just smiled to the assembled girls, who decided to giggle embarrasedly -or bang their heads on   
their desks and pass out-.  
  
"How come Chummly has all the girls wrapped 'round his pinky, and not notice it?!?!?! And why can't we!?!?!"  
  
"...Oh, I don't know, 'Kazu... because we suck?"  
  
"...you just had to be the realistic type, didn't you, Kenta..."  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"...and that's the story. What do you think, Jen?"  
  
Jenrya pondered the issue, while putting his hand on his chin, on a pose he had been practicing   
to make him look cool and smart.  
  
"...the most probable cause would be a Digimon..."  
  
"...yeah... that, or Master Happosai has toned down his Happo-Daikarin bombs and started playing   
pranks... he IS old enough to be on his... twentieth childhood..."  
  
"...oooookayyyy... anyway, I heard some teachers are volunteering to go to the Park tonight, to find   
out if it is one of our classmates."  
  
"To the Park? Jen, what if they find Guilmon! They might take him away!"  
  
"Momentai, 'Kato!! I'm sure everthing will be alright!"  
  
"...you need a new speechwriter, Terriermon..."  
  
"Hey! It's my trademark, you know?"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Chief Yamaki? Reporting that, at 2045 hours local time, an energy source of Digital nature was detected.  
Point of intersection with Real World: grid point Q-13, Azimuth 45. Currently unmoving."  
  
"Dammit, another wild one... get tracers and Yuggoth ready. Understood?"  
  
"As you wish, Agent Y!"  
  
Yamaki stiffened and grumbled away his annoyance.  
  
"Hey, Megumi" whispered the redheaded operator "why do you tease Yamaki so much?"  
  
Megumi shrugged. "It's no my fault the guy drives an old black Ford LTD, Reika... I think he actually likes it!"  
  
"...you're weird, Megumi..."  
  
"I know!"  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Hey Guil... why do you bury you bread?"  
  
"...this way, Guilmon's bread is more fresher... and Guilmon still not get the fridge Guilmon mail ordered..."  
  
Takato stared a little. 'I swear, I don't know where is Guilmon getting his education from!!'  
  
"....aaanyway... hey Guil, I want you to promise me something, okay? Some people are going to come to   
the park looking for some troublemaker kid, but they might find you instead. So don't come out of your shed, okay?"  
  
"Gotcha, 'Kato-mon. Stay in shed. No problemo."  
  
"...Good, Guil, now I feel better. See you tomorrow! Good night! Let's go, dad!"  
  
"Bye-bye, 'Kato-mon! Bye Sensei-mon!"  
  
Once father and son left, a navy blue figure with a white face appeared. With his hands behind his neck, he lazily  
strolled towards Guilmon's shed. Peering inside, he saw Guilmon practicing a few Kata from his last lesson.  
  
"...waddaheck ya doin', ya Pineapple Head!?! Modern Dance or sumpthin'?!?"  
  
"Hya! Ha! Hyaa! Haiyyaa!"  
  
"...jus' who d'ya think y'are, Jackie Chan?! Quit doin' that thing! I know more fun stuff to do!!"  
  
"Hyyea! Ha! Ho-A! Hayyya! Hoah!"  
  
"...are you listenin'!?!?! Come outta there before I drag ya kickin' an' screamin'!!"  
  
"Hooooya! Hya hya hya hya!!"  
  
"...aww c'mon... it'll be fun... really..!"  
  
"....hooOOOOYAAAH! Hieyaa!!"  
  
"...of all the idiotic... I'm outta here..." said Impmon, while grumbling under his breath, while walking away.  
  
"...hhyyyyYYAAAH!! Phew, that was good- huh? Guilmon was sure Guilmon heard someone talking..."  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Hey squirt" began Ranma "I gotta go buy a new lightbulb for the backdoor's light. Wait here, okay?"  
  
"Sure thing, dad!" And off Ranma went, leaving Takato watching the skies, trying to gaze at the few stars visible  
from the city. So, he wasn't paying attention when he turned around, and bumped into-  
  
"Oh, sorry, I wasn't looking-"  
  
-a jerky-looking police officer.  
  
"Just what are you doing here at this time, boy?!"  
  
"What? Nothing! Just waiting for my dad!"  
  
"Don't you lie to me! I bet you're that firecracker kid we're lookin' for!"  
  
"Whaddya say!? No!! You got the wrong guy!"  
  
"Don't talk back to me! You're coming with me-"  
  
"Mind telling me what's going on here?" said a calm voice -an almost too calm voice-  
  
The cop growled and turned around-   
  
"Mind your own business-"  
  
-only to stare on a broad, muscled chest, covered by a crimson Chinese shirt. Gazing up slowly, he met   
with a couple of blue, icy, very stern eyes piercing his own. Yeah, the battle aura blazing around this new guy  
was scary, too...  
  
"...again, why are you threatening my son?"  
  
The officer was shaking and quaking like there was no tomorrow -which was probably true for him-. Why   
was so cold so suddenly?!   
  
"Gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-"  
  
"I take it we can go now, Officer?"  
  
"Gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-"  
  
"...I thought so. C´mon, squirt!"  
  
"Coming, dad! Good Bye, Mr. Officer!"  
  
"Gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-"  
  
...for those who wonder why Takato doesn't have a single mean bone in his body, the reason is obvious.  
Ranma kept them.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"...stoopid Pineapple-Head...playin' Bruce Lee...bet he can't go to da bathroom by himself-hey,   
whaddwe have here?"  
  
Impmon stared at the foggy image of the Digital Field that hovered twenty foot over the ground.  
  
"...wonder who's da sucka stuck in there..."  
  
Smelling the chance for some fun, he jumped up trash can-to-fence-to-lamppost-to-ledge-to-roof,   
until he was at the same eye level with...  
  
"Whoa! A Devidramon! Hah! Da big sucka's too big ta move inside da friggin' Field! Whasdamadda, ya fool?  
Feelin' cooped up? Nya nya nyaaa!!"  
  
Saying that Devidramon was getting mighty pissed would be an understatement the size of Ranma's ego  
after a good fight with, say, anyone. So it was pretty natural for him to growl at the Imp.  
  
"Bwahahahahah! Who's a big fool, huh? Yeah, y'are, yeah, y'are!! Bwahahahah!!!"  
  
Of course, Impmon was too busy having the time of his life, to notice his sharp finger poke at the Field...  
  
'Pop!' Went the field...  
  
'Grrrrrrr...' went Devidramon...  
  
'...aww nuts...' went Impmon before doing his impersonation of a bat out of hell.  
  
Devidramon glanced at his surroundings, noticing it's new freedom. It was a good time for it to launch a feral  
and evil roar, declaring this new world as its, and challenging anybody to it.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
Takato was chuckling a little. Heh, yeah, his dad had scared the socks off that poor police officer with the  
Soul of Ice technique, but in doing so, he had deep frozen the light bulb he had shopped, and it cracked open... so  
he had to back to the hardware store to get a new one-  
  
-wait! What was that shadow?!?!  
  
Takato looked up, and was shocked to see a gliding Devidramon!! It was going to the bridge over Main Avenue that connected the Park with the new Federal Building! Man, now THIS meant trouble!!  
  
The youngest Saotome took off his D-Ark, and summoned the Compass/Scan function. Yep, as he half expected,  
Guilmon was already on his way towards Devidramon.  
  
'Can't leave my partner alone in this battle, now, can I... Dad'll catch up...'  
  
With this thoughts in his mind, Takato took off towards the battle.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Yamaki Tetsuo sat in his office, brooding on his life, his work, and his co-workers, while nursing a small flask   
of scotch.  
  
"...nobody respect me... everybody calls me 'Yamaki the Nutjob', 'Man-In-Black Yamaki'..."  
  
He paused his session of self-pity to watch Devidramon glide past his office window, and put away his flask.  
  
"...'Yamaki the TK-Lookalike'... 'Yamaki Without a Life'... yeah, nobody respects me..."  
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Near the infamous bridge, four people met.  
  
"Okay, Renamon, let's-what are you doing here, Blue Boy!?!"  
  
"I have a name, you know?" frowned Jenrya. Just what was wrong with this girl, anyway!?!?  
  
"Whatever. As long you don't give me that 'give the guy a chance before deleting him' spiel, I don't care  
if you call yourself Marianne!"  
  
"Uuhh.... neither is the case, believe me..." said a sweatdropping Jenrya, trying to ignore Terriermon's snickers.  
  
"If we're done socializing, we can go back to butt-kicking. Renamon, do your stuff."  
  
"That will not be possible, Ruki: Devidramon has become the prey of Guilmon and Takato-San."  
  
Hastily turning to Devidramon's direction, the foursome saw the Crimson Dinosaur and the Young Fighter  
playing hit-and-run with the Demon Dragon's massive claws.  
  
"...that idiotic boy! He'll get killed!!"  
  
"...I am concerned for his safety as well, Ruki, but I cannot insult him by interfering... I'm sorry..."  
  
"But we still can be close enough to help them if they need us! Let's go!"  
  
Knowing that the blue haired boy's words were true, the foursome rushed towards the battlefield.  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Hyaa!! Take that, you Mass-Production-Evangelion wanna-be!!"  
  
Takato weaved through Devidramon's punches and slashes like a demented ping-pong ball, managing to distract  
the evil Dreadnaught enough to allow Guilmon's stronger strikes and Pyro-Spheres to do the damage, without becoming  
a target himself. However, the damage they made was minimal, and they were getting tired.  
  
"This.. is... bad...!! Ooof!!!" Complained Takato as a glancing blow managed to catch his side, knocking him on a   
nearby wall. Seeing his Tamer being hit, Guilmon was distracted for a split second, which was enough for Devidramon to   
capture him with it's clawed tail.  
  
"Gaaah!! Ta-kato-mon...!!" managed to gasp Guilmon, as Devidramon's overwhelming strength started to suffocate him.  
  
Devidramon was grinning maniacally: finally he had caught one of the annoying pest! He would enjoy squeeze the  
life out of the little vermin, feeling it's bones shatter before absorbing it's data, and that other pest would be next!  
  
"Guilmon!!!" Shouted Jenrya, while Terriermon prepared himself to jump into battle. Renamon and Ruki glanced at each   
other and nodded once. Ruki took off her cards and was ready for some major card-slashing, when-  
  
"GRAAAAAAGGGH!!!!!"  
  
-when Devidramon's enraged and pain-filled roar chilled them to the spot. Wondering what had happened, they saw the  
cause of Devidramon's pain: a metal bar was deeply plunged into one of the monster's blood-red eyes.  
  
"Nobody hurts my friends when I'm around, you freak!! Nobody!!!!"  
  
The Tamers and Digimon snapped their heads towards the voice, and gasped.  
  
There stood Takato, near a fence made of steel bars, his clothes tattered and dirtied with concrete dust, a deep   
scowl on his face... and he was shining with a bright blue aura that surrounded him like spectral fire! With barely any effort,  
he teared another steel bar from where it was welded to the fence, and holding it like a lance, he run towards his enemy.  
  
"Gyaaaah!!!!"  
  
With a battlecry, he jumped over Devidramon's barreling claw, landing on it's forearm, and ran over it towards it's face,  
impromptu staff at ready-  
  
Slam!!!!  
  
-when Devidramon's other fist knocked him away, sending him flying.  
  
"Takato!!!!!" "'Kato!!!!!" "Takato-San!!!!""Goggleheeaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Hidden from the other's view, Culumon watched horrified how his friend was ran over by a claw-shaped locomotive.  
Frozen to do anything, he didn't notice his forehead's mark shine a bright red...  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
Guilmon saw horrified as his Tamer, his friend, his sparring partner, went flying, maybe to his death... so when  
he felt the foreign power that could help him defeat this evil being, he embraced the gift without questions. He felt as his  
body was torn apart and reassembled in a bigger, more powerful shape. He wondered how he didn't feel any pain while  
he ceased being Guilmon, to become...  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
"Growmon!!!"  
  
Jenrya and Terriermon stared open-mouthed at the just evolved Guilmon. Damn, but was he big!  
  
Ruki and Renamon were in awe too, but were too busy kneeling beside Takato's prone form to let their jaws  
get slack. Turning their attention to the Gogglehead, they saw -both for their amazement and relief- that he had   
opened his eyes.  
  
"G-guilmon... Digivolved... good..."  
  
"Shh... do not strain yourself, Takato-San... you have been grievously injured..." said Renamon, as she   
rested Takato's head on her lap.  
  
"It's okay, ...Rena-chan... don't worry..." said Takato, looking into Renamon's jade eyes, and smiling   
weakly at her.  
  
Renamon wondered why her cheeks felt so warm, and Ruki wondered why she felt so annoyed all of a sudden...  
  
Meanwhile, Growmon was in a contest of strength with Devidramon, both trying to push down the other.  
  
"This isn't good" muttered Jenrya "Guilmon has just evolved, and he might not be totally in control of himself...  
and without Takato's advice..."  
  
Jenrya's babbles silenced when Growmon twisted, pushed Devidramon with his hip, and performed   
a flawless Judo throw, rattling Devidramon's bones when it landed on it's back.  
  
"...you were saying, Marianne?" snipped Terriermon, while Jenrya was too stunned to reply to the barb.  
  
Ruki watched amazed, when she felt a warm hand over her own. Glancing down, she saw it was Takato's.  
  
"Ru-ruki-Chan... my cards... my D-Ark... give me them, please..."  
  
Trying to ignore her warm cheeks -and Renamon's annoyed look-, she asked where they were.  
  
"The cards... in my pocket... the D-Ark... under my shirt..."  
  
NOW she blushed big time. With a shaky hand, she searched for the cards in his pocket. She couldn't help but   
notice how well muscled his leg felt... When she aimed for the D-Ark on his chest, she noted that Renamon already had   
her paw under his shirt, and was already pulling out the red-on-white device.  
  
"Here you go, Ruki..." said Renamon through clenched teeth.  
  
"Thank you, Rena..." answered Ruki likewise.  
  
After a few sparks flew between their eyes, they gave Takato his Digital Combat Equipment.  
  
Meanwhile, Growmon's and Devidramon's fight had kept going. While Devidramon seemed slightly faster and stronger, Growmon used all his new martial knowledge to his advantage, which kept the fight mostly even. Suddenly, the Red Dragon   
feinted a kick, earning a charge from Devidramon. Sidestepping his foe, Growmon tripped Devidramon to the ground.  
He grabbed the still stunned Devidramon, and after a few spins, he launched him straight up, and prepared himself for  
his special attack-  
  
"Now! Power Activate!" said Takato, while slashing the card.  
  
-when he felt his power increase incredibly! With a mighty shout of "Exhaust Flame!!", a river of fire exploded  
from his maw, engulfing and obliterating Devidramon in a virtual hell. Afterwards, only raw data remained, data that Growmon   
hastily absorbed.  
  
"...Girls? Please, could you help me up?" asked Takato tiredly. Delicately, Ruki and Renamon complied, being careful   
to support him, by putting one of his arms around each of their shoulders. The innocent and sincere smile he gave them while  
thanking them had them blushing again.  
  
Carefully, they took Takato to Growmon, who was panting slightly from the effort this battle had taken. Suddenly,  
the giant Dino-Dragon swiveled his head towards the three, and closed in.  
  
Ruki and Renamon tensed at seeing this, and took a step back-  
  
"Don't worry, Rena-Chan, Ruki-Chan... Growmon won't hurt us... ain't that right, buddy?"  
  
"'Kato-Mon's right... you're all our friends... and you helped 'Kato-mon... thanks..."  
  
Renamon and Ruki were about to answer, when...  
  
"...damn Sears... figures they have all kinda stuff -even lawn tractors- but they don't have a lousy light bulb-"  
  
Ranma stopped to see the demolished bridge, the quite improbable Growmon, Jenrya and Terriermon watching   
from the sidelines, Ruki and Renamon holding his son, and Takato looking quite beaten up.  
  
"...guess you've all been busy... gee, squirt, I didn't see ya that beaten up since our last family vacation on  
Ryuugenzawa... and how the hell did you deplete your Ki like that? No matter, I'll fix that."  
  
With a hand over Takato's stomach, the other on his chest, and a muttered 'Ten Sen Ken Healing Technique:   
Shin Ki-Oh-Dan', Ranma produced a faint white glow that seeped into Takato's body. Soon, the kid separated himself from  
his female crutches -for their great surprise-, and flexed his arms and legs a bit.  
  
"Gee, thanks, dad! I don't know what would I have done! I didn't want to impose too much in Rena-Chan and Ruki-Chan  
by asking me to carry me home!"  
  
"..not that we would, anyway... and one more thing, Goggle head. Call me 'Chan again, and I'll make Devidramon's   
beating look like a poetry-reading session. Got that?"  
  
Takato just sweat dropped.  
  
"Hey squirt, I have a question....how the heck did Guilmon get so friggin' big?!"  
  
"...he eats his Oaties? Heh, sorry... But we should hide him somewhere... there's this Flood Control Aqueduct nearby,  
let's get Growmon there, and then we go home."  
  
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go, big boy!"  
  
"Okee-dokee, Sensei-mon! Bye-bye, everybody!!"  
  
"Yeah, good bye, Jen, Ter! Bye, Rena-Chan, Ruki-Chan!"  
  
"Don't call me- aw man, what's the use... let's go, Renamon."  
  
As the Fearless Females left the battleground, and the Saotome Soldiers went to hide Growmon, that left the Momentai  
Brothers to survey the battleground.  
  
"Boy... this will be a hell to clean up..."  
  
"Momentai, Jen! It's not worse than your room, anyway..."  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
"Chief Yamaki, how are we going to explain all this destruction? The media will find out..."  
  
"We'll have to make up a cover story, Reika... let's say that a group of super powered martial artist with   
very little brains started a brawl and caused all the damage..."  
  
"Will the media accept that story?"  
  
"...and why don't we neuralize everybody, boss?"  
  
"Megumi!!! Look what you did?!?!"  
  
"What did I do-Oh, that..."  
  
"Nobody respects me... nobody respects me..." kept babbling Yamaki, as he rocked his huddled form on a corner.  
  
"...well, at least the boss isn't running around half naked and painted blue..."  
  
"...you're weird, Megumi..."  
  
"I know!"  
  
  
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@  
  
Yeah! Chapter Ten, done with it! Who's the man, uh? Who's the man?  
  
No, seriously.... who's the man? I don't know him...  
  
Well, meanwhile, let's Review the Reviews!!  
  
To Sora Potter, ChaosRenamon, and Akira: Yeah, more Ruki-Chan and Rena-Chan fun!! Whee!!  
  
To Hyperdramon: Thanks, a lot! I'll try to speed up things a bit, okay?  
  
To Tsunami Wave: Oh please, stop, you're makin' me blush! Keep going... Don't worry, the lil' Imp won't suffer...   
but his ego will...  
  
To SerpentTreize: Poor, poor Yamaki...  
  
To Tyreal: A new reviewer! Welcome aboard! Thanks for the support, glad you like the fic!  
  
To Kevin: Another new reviewer! Come, take a seat, I'll get you a coffee.  
  
To Ran: Heh, how do you like so far how I'm treating Yamaki-Kun, huh? As for Takato being crazy enough, well,   
today's chapter might be a good giveaway, dontcha think? And about Megidramon, well, I have an idea, but it   
doesn't involve the Soul of Ice... you'll see...  
  
To Jamie: Ah, don't worry about the 'mind in gutter' condition... as you can guess, the Fearless Females in the fic   
are gonna develop this little condition by themselves...  
  
To Vincent: Welcome aboard, Vince! Aw, c'mon... wouldn't it be fun if Takato DID cream Icedevimon?  
  
To Blackout12: Hey Blackster! Wow, 10 out of 10! Thank you very much!  
  
To Canis Black: heh, what can I say, "Wild Tamer"'s supposed to be funny... thanks for liking the story so far! Aw,let's   
keep some mysteries till the end, okay?  
Yeah, that's about it. See you later!  
  
Otaku-Sama  
Anime Fanboy and Internet Freak  
ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama Yahoo! Messenger Otaku-Sama 


	11. On The Rocks

Yazooooo!!!! One Hundred Reviews!! That's so cool! Now, imagine if I got a quarter for each review,  
that would be.... uh.... some money! Yeah, that's it!  
Disclaimer: NO, dammit! I refuse to claim, and you can't make me!!  
The Wild Tamer  
By Otaku-Sama ( ICQ 12832029 AIM OtakuuSama otaku-sama@toughguy.net )  
Chapter 11: On The Rocks  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Yawn, what a day I had yesterday... I was so tired, I would've just sleep the morning away!"  
  
"...well, you did tire yourself out, Squirt...I still don't know how you depleted your Ki like that..."  
  
Yeah, there was a mystery for Ranma. He was mostly sure that you needed to reach a certain level  
of Ki-buildup before you could even manifest it, let alone burn it away... but somehow, his son had managed to   
bypass the buildup stage...  
  
This could become a problem. Apparently, Takato was able to release his dormant Ki... but he just   
didn't have enough reserves to release. Result: he could manage some amazing feats, but only by drying himself  
out of juice. And since there wasn't a real way to, say, 'close the Ki-faucet' -not without arresting Takato's   
future development on the higher forms of The Art-, he had to buildup his reserves. Also, a bit of fine tuning   
on his son's energy management talent was in order. So, things as Ki-Blasts, Ki-Constructs, and High-level Ki   
Manipulation were out of the question. For now.  
  
Still planning his son's future training schedule, Ranma accompanied his son into the Aqueduct   
that hid his newest student from the prying eyes of the world.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"Wakey-wakey, sleepy head..."  
  
"mmmmrpmph snort... ...zzzz..."  
  
"...hey, Grow... it's Takato..."  
  
Growmon just paused to turn over, scratch himself, and continue with his lumbering.  
  
Ranma just chuckled a bit, and motioned Takato to his side.  
  
"Now, Squirt, I'll teach you one of the secrets of our School: how to get the attention of a practitioner  
of Musabetsu Kakutou Saotome Ryuu."  
  
Taking a wide stance, he furrowed his brows in concentration, gathered his willpower, and shouted:  
  
"Breakfast's readyyyy!!!"  
  
"zzz-Uh? Wha?! Breakfast! Where!!"  
  
"Heh, hello to you too, student!"  
  
Growmon turned his giant head towards the voice, and saw his two favorite people in the entire world.  
  
"Hiii Takato-mon, Sensei-mon!! Where's breakfast?"  
  
Both Ranma and Takato chuckled merrily, while motioning the Big Red Digimon to follow them, to the  
outside of the Aqueduct. Both had similar thoughts at the moment: Digimon or not, this one was a Saotome. He   
had the stomach to prove it.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
"...and when the Digimon has acquired enough experience and power, he is able to Digivolve permanently  
to a higher level. But if the Evolution only involves power, then the Digimon can Dedigivolve to a lesser stage after   
losing energy. Or at least that's what that American Internet fan site says..."  
  
Ranma nodded. It made sense, in a way... like a better version of the Ki Giant Technique that Happosai had   
invented, and both Soun and the Old Panda used now and then. So...  
  
"...If I'm getting you right, we need to get rid of some of Growmon's excess power to turn him back to   
normal, is that it? Like tiring him out?"  
  
"Yeah, that's it. But I'm sure it'll take us some time to actually burn off all the extra power..."  
  
Extra power. Ranma was not big in science, but one thing from his high school physics classes he knew  
well: energy has to come from somewhere, not pop up from thin air... well, that was a concern for later discussions.  
  
"M-hmm... well, I have another idea... students: today we start to learn about Ki."  
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"...okay, Growmon, keep breathing just like that... yeah... keep you eyes closed... now, calm yourself,   
and listen to your body... feel your body... feel your feet, your legs, your knees, your thighs, your hips..."  
  
Growmon was sitting in seiza -the traditional Japanese position for sitting-, his claws resting over his   
lap, his face a mask of concentration, as his steady breathing blew a nearby tree's leaves to and fro.   
  
"...now from your head...feel you head... feel you neck, feel your shoulders... feel your chest... and feel   
your tummy... stop there, Grow... feel your tummy... closer... closer... what do you feel... what do you see..."  
  
"...it's...it's warm...it flows... like water...no... like fire.... yeah, fire.... but it's not burning Growmon..."  
  
"...very good, Growmon, very good! That feeling, that presence, that is your Ki. It's the energy from   
your body and your soul united. It's part of you, so you can command it. Now, put your claws flat on the   
ground, palms down."  
  
As Growmon slowly complied, Ranma once again marveled at the Digi-Dino's astounding ability to grasp   
The Art. Obviously, he had a similar talent for understanding and harnessing his Ki that his son possessed... only   
he had enough energy within to not worry with depleting himself out...  
  
"...now, Growmon, feel your Ki again... it's a part of you, just like your legs, your tail, your arms...   
will your Ki to move... make it flow within yourself... make it flow from your tummy to your chest... to your   
shoulders... to your arms.. to your forearms... to your claws... to the ground beneath your claws... and let it go..."  
  
Takato watched -amazed and happy- how his best friend harnessed the Obscure Art of Ki, at   
the first shot! Cool! He saw how a bright orange glow flowed from Growmon's body to his arms, only to   
disappear in the awaiting Earth. As scientists say, energy cannot be created nor destroyed... only   
transmitted or transformed.  
  
The light show continued until Growmon's entire body glowed white, and the two humans saw   
Growmon's figure shrink and change into a smaller, more familiar shape.  
  
"...wow...Guilmon has a head rush... cool!!..."  
  
"...Wow, Guil, that was great!! I'm proud of you, buddy!" enthused Takato while hugging his   
reptilian friend.  
  
"...Damn, but am I a great Sensei or what... Now Takato, I think you have some things to do,   
don't you think?"  
  
"...uh? What things, Dad?" Asked the Boy Wonder, puzzled.  
  
"Oh, I don't know... school, maybe?"  
  
"....gaaaah!!!! I'm late!!! Bye, Guil; bye, dad!! Gotta go! Gaaahh!!!"  
  
Both Master and Apprentice chuckled and waved at the nearly supersonic schoolboy. Then, they both   
proceeded to their morning lesson, before Ranma went back to the bakery. After all, the work of a Martial Artist   
Baker is never done.  
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'Inside the hidden bowels of a secret government agency, a conspiracy was taking place at the very   
time... a conspiracy so unbelievable, so terrible, that to disclose the truth to the public would mean the end   
of civilisation as we-'  
  
"...Megumi, if you're going to use Hypnos to write and post your 'Men In Black' fan fiction, would you   
at least try NOT TO TYPE OUT LOUD!?!?!?!"  
  
"Sure thing, boss! I'll type my fan fiction silent as a mouse from now on!"  
  
Yamaki stared at Megumi while trying not to growl too loudly. Didn't that bowl-cut-haired woman  
know the concept of sarcasm?!  
  
"Uh, sir?" Interrupted the long haired Reika. Better stop this before someone kills someone...  
  
"...with a rusty dull knife... uh? Oh, yes, Reika?"  
  
"Energy Surge/High Complexity Data detected on Grid Point 66-G. Sending tracers now..."  
  
"...and..?" Said the dark suited man, tapping his foot impatiently.  
  
"...damn... no good, sir... it has emerged..."  
  
Yamaki narrowed his eyes. This was almost an all-out invasion... a preemptive strike was REALLY   
in order... damn bureaucrats...  
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Down a busy street of West Shinjuku, a redheaded girl with something of an attitude, walked by.   
Her ears were filled with music from illegally-copied MP3s, in a custom made mix of Kid Rock, Rammstein and   
System of a Down. Yeah, she was one though cookie, wasn't she?  
  
...a shame that being one though cookie didn't really ease her mind...  
  
'...this sucks... Renamon is the strongest and most experienced of all the Tamed Digimon... but first   
that walking Rabbit Stew Digivolves first... and now, that Lobotomized Velociraptor becomes the Son of Gojira!!'  
  
Ruki, as usual, was not a happy girl. Having her much more worthy Digimon on the same level as   
Teddy-Ruxpin With-Ears and Barney's-Love-Child, was something of a blow to her ego...  
  
...and that stupid Goggle head...  
  
How dare that stupid Goggle head make her feel like a ten-years-old-schoolgirl with a crush! And the   
fact that she actually WAS a ten-years-old-schoolgirl was not the point, anyway!  
  
And more so... after making her feel... like that... how dare he flirt with Renamon!?!?! And no, she   
was NOT jealou-  
  
Her mental rants stopped short, when the foreboding feeling of someone stalking her -grabbing at her-,   
filled her senses and soul with disquiet. Quickly turning around, she faced-  
  
-the innocent green eyes of Culumon.  
  
Trying to ignore the In-Training's happy and friendly face, she hastily crossed the street. Of course,  
Culumon followed, skipping along and Culu-ing a catchy tune. You can imagine how did Ruki like all of that...  
  
Turning on her heels, she pointed a stiff finger away, and growled a heartfelt 'Leave me alone,   
fuzz-ball!'... to which Culumon answered by leaping on her extended arm, skip over it and give her the Eskimo   
Kisses Treatment.  
  
"Gaah!! Cute germs!! Get it off!!"  
  
Flailing her arms while wiping her face, she left the surprised Culumon fall to the ground.  
  
"Now, one more time: go away!"  
  
Now, Ruki was though, Ruki was hard... but Ruki was not heartless, and she couldn't help but  
feel some guilt on seeing Culumon running away in tears... of course, Ruki was used to squashing down  
any guilty thought, and dismissed it.  
  
Resuming her walk home, she went down a narrow, empty street, when-  
  
-the unsettling feeling came back... the feeling of undead claws reaching for her...   
  
Seized by the unfamiliar feeling of fear, she made an effort to control herself, and call for her   
Digimon partner.  
  
"R-Renamon!! Come quick!!"  
  
But when the vulpine being arrived, the presence of the unseen horror had already left.  
  
"Ruki? Why did you summon me? Is something the matter?"  
  
Ruki was not a girl who knew how to deal with the emotive side of her brain -the side that felt fear   
and joy, sadness and anger-, so she reacted with the emotion she was most familiar with. Anger.  
  
"...What the hell took you so long?!? What if there was some kind of danger!!"  
  
"...I apologize, Ruki... I was caught up thinking..."  
  
Now, when you act in anger, sometimes you add up more fuel to that anger in an effort to justify that   
same anger, and to cover for your own flaws.  
  
"Thinking?! You were caught up thinking?!?! Hah! And I suppose you were thinking of that idiotic   
Gogglehead, huh?!"  
  
Now, Renamon wasn't really thinking of Takato. But, just as telling yourself not to think about pink   
elephants you end up actually thinking of them, at the mention of The Last Saotome So Far, her mind drifted to   
him, to his warrior soul, his unbelievable prowess as a fighter... his kind smile... his fluid motions...   
  
"...wha?! You're blushing!! You WERE thinking of him!!" Damn Renamon! How dare she think about   
HER Gogglehead!-wait, since when was he HER Gogglehead?!?!  
  
"N-no!! You mentioned him, not me!! A-and if I was, so what? Are you jealous?"  
  
"Wha-who-gaah-je-je-Cough!! Je-jealous!?! Me?!?! Of that dumb idiot?!?!?!" retaliated Ruki. Of   
course, her own blush didn't really add to her already sinking credibility.  
  
"Now wait a damn second!! Takato-San is a mighty warrior, and he deserves some respect!!"  
  
"Respect my knuckles!! So what if he's strong and powerful..." said Ruki  
  
"...and skilled and honorable..." continued Renamon  
  
"...and courageous and kind..."  
  
"...and caring and considerate..."  
  
"...and has the cutest butt..."  
  
"...yeah..."  
  
Both females sighed deeply, with dreamy looks on their faces. Then they snapped to attention, gazed   
at the other, blushed as they never had before, coughed embarrassed, and turned their backs to each other.  
  
"Ahem, so..."  
  
"...so..."  
  
"...If you don't tell anyone, I won't either."  
  
"...deal."  
  
And Ruki went inside her house, while Renamon just faded away.  
  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
...and the day didn't get any better for the Tamer Recipient of the Purple Broken Heart. First, a   
discussion with her mother about Ruki's attitude, that left her fuming and wanting to be alone. But when she   
went to the yard to imitate Greta Garbo, the same sensation of fear and chill had enveloped her.  
  
Running to her room and slamming the door closed, she ordered Renamon to play Reconnaisance, to   
which the Digi-Foxy later reported...  
  
"...Ruki, I don't know why are you troubled so, but as your partner, I shall do whatever is necessary  
to protect you..."  
  
The redhead had been already very wound up, and this small slap to her pride was the last twist.  
  
"I don't need protection! I don't need pity! And certainly I don't need YOU!!"  
  
Ruki stormed out of her room and her house, with bearing unknown, leaving a sighing Renamon behind.   
And Renamon never knew that her sigh had a twin, escaping from Ruki's lips at the same time.  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Meanwhile, back at the Batcave-err, Guilmon's hut...  
  
While Guilmon and Ranma practiced a new Kata, Jenrya and Terriermon teached Takato a bit   
about Card Fighting, Card Slashing and Card Combos. The fact that Terriermon was wearing a little Teller's   
Visor and was dealing cards Las Vegas-Style was just ignored by the two human boys.  
  
"...and with this last one, you can't lose against Demon Virus types. Got it?"  
  
"Wow... that's so cool, Jen! You're really good at this, you know?"  
  
Jenrya just smiled. After having his rear end thoroughly beaten, his clock squeaky-clean from so   
much cleaning, and his pride as a Martial Artist at it's Third Reincarnation and Fourth Death, actually being   
better than Takato at something felt really, really good.  
  
"Okay Guil, that's all for today. Remember to practice this Kata when you have some free time, and   
don't forget those Team Tactics I had you drilling with Takato. Got it?"  
  
"Okee-Dokee, Sensei-mon!"  
  
"...sensei-mon... heh... well, I better head back home: it's almost time for the afternoon bread batch.   
Squirt, why dontcha stay here with your friends? You've been trainin' hard, and you can use a break, you know?"  
  
"Okay, dad! Thanks! Bye!"  
  
"Good bye, Ranma-San!" "See-ya, Ran-man!" "Terriermon!!" "Momentai!"  
  
"Bye, Jen. Bye, Pretty Pants!"  
  
As Ranma went down the stairs, leaving behind a confused Guilmon, two snickering boys, and one   
sputtering Terriermon, he paused a second for a last goodbye.  
  
"Bye, Smiley. See you 'round!"  
  
And off Ranma went, not seeing but sensing Impmon, face faulting behind the tree where he hid.  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
On top of the Makino Estate roof top, Renamon gazed at the fiery image of the setting sun. Normally,   
the beauty and serenity of such magnificent sight would sooth any worries she had, but apparently the soothing   
effect was running low on batteries...  
  
"...I have never had such a heated disagreement with Ruki...I just wish we could solve our differences   
peacefully... if only there was a way..."  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
Meanwhile, Ruki was walking down the Subway Station, trying to sort familiar thoughts and unfamiliar   
emotions,when the same chill as before ran down her spine. She frantically looked around, seeing only a young  
couple, some salary men, a Digimon's shadow stealing upstairs, a buff guy with a bandanna, a backpack and an   
umbrella-wait a minute! A Digimon!  
  
Rushing up the dark and lonely stairs, she found nothing but empty space, some litter on the   
ground, two wicked, long claws reaching for her from behind....  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°  
  
When Ruki opened her eyes again, she was trapped inside a dark, cold room. A thick layer of ice   
covered the ground, unseen under a thick, knee-deep fog. She couldn't help but shiver as she had never had   
before, both from the biting cold and the fear that gnawed at her courage. Unseen by her, a shadow, white as   
snow but darker than the darkest night, rose behind her back, and enveloped her with it's tattered,   
bat-like wings.  
  
"...at last, we are together... two beings meant to be together, as an icy body like mine needs an   
icy soul like yours... I'm the only one that understands you, that is like you... that is why I shall be your partner,   
and you shall be... my tamer..."  
  
For the first time of her short life, Ruki met terror face to face. Speechless, she could only   
remember her ords of disdain towards Renamon, whom was not there for her when she needed her the most...   
all because foolish words born from anger, frustration... and blossoming jealousy...  
  
"Don't you fear me, my Ice Hearted Tamer... I shall be your Partner, as I am worthy of you... as I   
am the strongest of all... as I have this present for you, as proof of my might..."  
  
With a sweep of his abnormally long claw, light shone inside the room, showcasing the icy tombs of  
dozens of Digimon, trapped forever in unmerciful ice... unknown to Ruki, at the same time a beacon was sent   
as a challenge.  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
"Wait-wa-wait!!" panted Jenrya as he carried a smug Terriermon on his head. On hearing their friend,   
the sprinting Takato and Guilmon waited for the Chinese Duo to catch up.  
  
"C'mon, Jen! We gotta get to that signal we saw! I just know it means trouble! If only we knew the   
exact place..."  
  
"Momentai, 'Kato-man! Maybe that building completely covered with ice in the middle of the spring   
might be a clue?"  
  
Takato turned and saw the said building, sweat dropped a little, and admitted:  
  
"...oookay, maybe it won't be so hard to find... let's go, Guil!!"  
  
Flying overhead, an unseen Culumon decided to join in the game. After all, it looked like fun!  
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°|  
  
"...yes, my Icy Tamer... all these Digimon you behold, are my gift to you... these are my badges, my   
proof of my might... all this data, is proof of my worth..."  
  
"Shut up!! I don't want to hear you!!" said Ruki almost hysterically, while covering her ears.  
  
"Digimon are more than just data! They are not stepping stones! They are more than the sum   
of their parts!"  
  
'...they feel, they laugh, they cry... they live...' recalled Ruki, as the Goggle head had told her.  
  
"...and I don't want to be your partner, so bug off!!"  
  
The monster just chuckled, amused. It was funny how his cold-hearted Tamer could have such   
silly notions...  
  
"...all I know is I need a Tamer to become strong and Digivolve... and your coldness has drawn me   
to you... we WILL be together... and we WILL become the coldest pair in history..."  
  
Ruki just closed her eyes, as one lonely tear scaped from her eye and fell to it's death, only to   
freeze an inch before touching the ground. In complete despair, she could only call from her heart for those   
who could help her...  
  
'...Renamon... please, come, Renamon... Goggle head...'  
  
Suddenly, with a shout of 'Pyro Sphere!!', a part of the wall collapsed in steam and smashed ice.   
Behind the settling cloud, a determined, familiar voice called out.  
  
"Okay, you Spawn-Rip-Off!! Nobody kidnaps my friends when I'm around!! Nobody!!!"  
  
Then, as shells from a howitzer, two blurs -one red, one blue and grey- shot from the obscuring   
cloud of steam and ice dust, only to deliver twin flying-kicks on the cryogenic monster's mid section, hurling   
it off Ruki and onto a wall. Turning towards her, the blue-colored former blur asked:  
  
"Ruki-Chan! Are you okay?! Did that crazy Batman/Mr. Freeze hybrid hurt you!?"  
  
Still shocked by the Viral Duo's sudden arrival, she only managed a weak nod, before-  
  
"Frozen Claw!!"  
  
-before Ice Devimon -as Jenrya had found out on his D-Ark just before his friends had jumped   
the Ice Digimon- blasted her rescuers away. Horrified, she witnessed as both Guilmon and Takato became   
impromptu ice sculptures; she was too out of it to notice when another attack captured Terriermon inside   
another overgrown popsicle.  
  
"Hahahahahah!! See?! This is my might, my dear Tamer!! See how I froze this fools!! This is the   
power we can share!"  
  
"Share this!! Diamond Storm!!!"  
  
Renamon's Special Attack flew towards Ice Devimon with deadly accuracy... but the Frozen Fallen   
Angel evaded it, and slammed Renamon on the ground with his' disgustingly long arms.  
  
"Hah! Take this!! Die, you weak excuse of a Digimon!! Dieee!!!"  
  
Ruki stared in silent horror as her friend was beaten to death by Ice Devimon... she was going to die...  
she... was...  
  
Ice Devimon smirked cruelly, as he prepared himself for the finishing blow. So engrossed on his   
hideous pride he was, that he didn't notice the twin frozen sculptures shine from within, one bright orange,   
one blazing blue...  
  
With a deafening booming sound, the ice spires exploded, and a combined Pyro Sphere and a tail   
slap threw Ice Devimon away from Renamon, while the goggled Saotome, rushed towards the fallen fox,   
craddled her on his arms, and jumped away from danger.  
  
"Rena-Chan! Please tell me you're okay!" pleaded Takato, still holding the aching Renamon.  
  
Renamon just smiled weakly and touched Takato's shoulder with her paw.  
  
"Do not worry yourself with my well being, Takato-San... I am well..." said she, and her words drew   
a relieved smile to his lips. Thank the Kami! His new friend was alright!!  
  
Ruki watched as the Goggle Head carefully -almost lovingly, on her not-so-unbiased point of view-   
laid Renamon down behind an ice protrusion, only to turn a deep glare towards Ice Devimon.  
  
"...you... are going down..."  
  
"Hahahahahah!!! Foolish boy!!! You really think you can take me on all by yourself?!?!?"  
  
"...who said I am by myself, Horn-Head!? Guilmon, NOW!!!"   
  
"Rock Breaker Revised: Bakusai Tenketsu!!!!  
  
With his improved Digimon Attack/Martial Arts Move, Guilmon drew his claw deep into the ground   
at Ice Devimon's feet, blowing him away in an explosion of ice and concrete. In pain from the rocky shrapnel,   
the Icy Demon, flew away from his attackers, expecting them to be constricted to ground...  
  
"Digi-Modify!! White Wings!!"  
  
...or maybe not. Growling, he saw as Guilmon flew up to meet him, and they traded lightning-fast  
blows for long seconds, until the Demon's longer reach worked to his advantage. With a sweeping   
uppercutting blow, he made the flying Guilmon flip back, his tail whipping up. He moved back to avoid the  
Dinosaur's tail whip, but he didn't expect...  
  
"Take this!! Meteor Kick!!!!"  
  
...to see the human child swing up by clinging to Guilmon's tail, and nail him with a wicked uppercutting  
flying kick, sending the Horned Freak head first to the ceiling, where his head got stuck.  
  
"Digi-Modify!! Power Activate!!"  
  
Finally, with a surge of extra power, Guilmon fired a spiked-up Pyro-Sphere, that totally obliterated  
Ice Devimon, whose data became part of Guilmon's body. At the time, the Icy Realm that Ice Devimon had   
created, vanished together with it's creator. Soon, only an empty room was left.  
  
"Whew!! This was hard!! Hey, Ruki-Chan? Are you all right? Your fists are shaking a bit..."  
  
"...all right...? You are asking me if I'm 'all right'?!? Of course not, you stupid Goggle-Head!! I'm  
NOT all right!!! That freak wanted to use me as a pet, I'm all cold, Renamon's useless, and you ask me if I'm  
all right!!!!!"  
  
Everybody were speechless. It was unthinkable to see the Digimon Queen breaking down like this.  
  
"Ruki-Chan... I'm sorry..."  
  
"Shut up!!! I hate Digimon!!!! I hate Renamon!!!!!!! And I... hate... you..." finished Ruki in a soft, tired   
whisper. Without another word, she walked away, her back towards a hurt Renamon, that decided to fade away.  
  
"Wait!! Don't go, you two!! We can fix this!! Ruki-Chan! Rena-Chan!! Wait!!!"  
  
The other four boys -human and Digimon- just watched silently as Takato futilely tried to call back   
the two upset girls.  
  
"...and to think that we won..." "Terriermon..." "Momen... aw who am I kidding..."  
  
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~~@@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@  
  
Okay! I made a little tiny itty-bitty mistake while typing up the "Reviewing the Reviews"  
section, so I accidentally, ahem, deleted it... stupid me...  
  
So here I am, typing the section again, and adding it to Chapter 11. Sorry for being such an idiot!  
  
To FusionBlaster: Thank you... yeah, it sucks to be Yamaki-Kun...  
  
To Jack: Yeah, both Fearless Females have a thing for Taks. Now, ask me if he realizes... as a good Saotome,   
Taks is unbelievable strong, skilled and courageous... but when it comes to girls, he's a complete blockhead.  
And as you can see, no Ki-blasts for a while. Sorry.  
  
To Tsunami Wave: THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Yeah, Taks is in some pain, but, it's nothing a few shiatsu points  
can't fix. And Impmon v/s Ranma? Heck, he wouldn't last a round against Taks, anyway!!!  
  
To Shadowstalker: ...I don't think Rena would like the idea of going swimming... do you know the smell of  
wet fox fur?  
  
To SerpentTreize: Yeah, love triangle in order, but it can become a bigger polygon... Yamaki going Hibiki?   
Maybe...Sorry, no Ki-blasts for Taks yet. Doctor's orders.  
  
To Josh Pryor: Gee, man, you really know how to boost a writer's ego!   
  
To Ran: Yeah, take the Neon Genesis Devidramon idea and use it at your leisure. It's all yours.  
  
To Vincent: me? sadistic? Hell yeah!  
  
To Xaero: err... Megumi's the short-haired one... Reika's the long-haired one, that has a thing for Yamaki.  
Taks pitching Pyrospheres around? Heheheheh-no. :P  
  
To Rift: Hell yeah this is a weird x-over! Woohoo! Remember: Ranma got his looks, his brains, his honor,  
his eyes, from his mother. From Genma, he only got a faulty education and several mental traumas. So,  
no Genma-like trainings, I assure you! And as for where is everybody from Ranma's past? My bet is  
they're either in jail or committed.  
  
To Kevin: Kevin... Glad you're here. Yeah, yes right: the main fault on every Mon-type anime is the main  
characters just kick back and pick their noses while the Mons do all the job. Like the President. And no,  
you didn't see Usagi and Ami, just two of Taks' classmates that appear on the show, even if Toei never  
bothered with giving them names...  
mmmmhhh... you know, Ruki ain't that bad a kid, I kinda like her spirit -once she got her act clean, that is.-  
And I think it's a lot funnier to have those two competing over Taks Ranma-style than coupling up the  
Goggle head. Hey, let the guy enjoy his freedom!  
  
To Jedi Takeru: ...Guilmon sparring with Terriermon... can you say "Punching Bag"? I knew you could!  
  
To Takato IX: none of the above. It's a "Anything has the hots for Taks, but he's oblivious. Damn kid...".  
  
To Stars: err... as far as I understand it, Renamon's blushing because her emotional state triggers a  
psychosomatic response on the blood vessels irrigating the skin tissue on her cheeks, enabling a enhanced  
blood flow to said region. Is that okay? ...and tone what down? All I have is a bunch of schoolgirls with   
crushes, that's all...  
Okay, Girls, Boys and In-Betweeners! See you next chapter! 


End file.
